Frozen Children
by Crazy Iemon
Summary: A year has past since the DReaper was defeated. Times have changed as Hypnos is replaced by Hypnos II and a new Tamer program. Peace is in Japan. But when Rika runs afoul with the new government system, peace becomes a fleeting memory... HAITUS
1. Dreamy Night

Disclamer: I do not own Digimon or Digimon Tamers.

**Chapter 1: Dreamy Night**

"People say that your dreams are the only things that save ya...Come on baby in our dreams, we can live our misbehaviors " -Arcade Fire, "Rebellion (Lies)"

The breeze blew across the park, flowing through like water through a river. Trees and grass bent, their movements commanded by the whim of this force. They were at its mercy, and should it choose to, ripe them and hurl them away from their natural resting place, crushing their lives. The wind may rule the world, but the park was the breeze's kingdom.. It ruled the dominion with its might, all life bound to its will.

Only two beings seemed to be immune from this powerful force; a young boy and a young girl sitting on one of the park benches.

As if curious as to what could be in its kingdom that would ignore its might, the breeze flowed around the two humans. The boy was garbed in a blue jacket, the hood of it blowing lightly in the breeze, hanging loosely from the back of his shirt. It was not in use; goggles laid strapped in his brown hair where its position would normally have been, leaving his brown eyes uncovered. He wore light brown cargo pants and covered his white socks with green shoes.

The girl wore a white shirt with green sleeves, the classic heart symbol etched upon the middle. Blue jeans were held up by brown belt and red shoes fit snuggly around white socks. Whilst her lavender eyes were unusual, her most defining feature was the way her red hair was bound; red spikes protruded from the back of her hair, reminiscent of the spikes of a pineapple.

Both had their arms wrapped around one another's body and their lips seemed to be attached to each other. The breeze was curious; it blew on them, causing their hair and any loose article of clothing to be blown onto the path of wind, yet again they gave no sign of recognition to his might. The breeze was confounded; what kind of procedure or skill were they enacting that allowed them to ignore his magnificent power...?

* * *

There are moments in ones life when one will be confused and confounded to how they entered a certain situation. In some of those moments, the individual will attempt to decipher and analyze the situation, eventually resolving how they entered the situation, and hopefully, how to proceed with said situation. In other moments, the person just goes "what the hell" and proceeds on their merry way.

Takato was willing to say "what the hell". In fact, he was willing to say nothing at all, as he kissed Rika fiercely.

Takato didn't know how he got into this situation, making out fiercely with Rika; she wasn't called an ice beauty for nothing. Although she made a good friend, there was no way she would let a guy close to her without giving said male a good bruise or two in the face and a hurt ego to go with it. Takato, who she "affectionately" named "Goggle-head", was an even less likely candidate.

Any further thought of explanation for this situation was immediately cut off as Rika moaned and leaned closer, her hand moving up Takato's leg. A thousand gallons of hormones flushed away any logical thinking as Takato began to sweat, as if trying to release the excess hormones through his pores. For some reason, despite the cool breeze in the park and Takato and Rika being the only ones occupying it (an odd occurrence, but Takato didn't bother to ponder it), it was blazing HOT.

Rika moved closer, causing Takato to lean back a little, as she locked her soft lavender eyes into Takato brown eyes. Takato had never seen Rika's eyes this close (mostly because eye contact usually meant a black eye for the other), and the few moments of eye contact, she was always glaring. They seemed to suck the world in, everything around them seemingly disappearing into her eyes, with Takato being no exception. Takato couldn't bear to look away, her eyes were just so beautiful, nothing could tear his gaze away...

Or at least that's what Takato thought...until Rika undid Takato's belt and unzipped his fly. Not only did the brazen action wrought his gaze from the Rika's eyes, it was only after the tension was released did Takato realize that there was a huge strain on his pants and his private parts. His private parts seemed to have grown to a much larger size then normal.

It was only when Rika grabbed the edge of his pants and was in the movement of pulling them off when Takato remembered that he was a sentient being and knew the action of speaking. "Umm...Rika.." Takato stammered, "Err...don't you think we should keep our clothes on, especially..umm...not in the park?"

Rika stopped and looked up and gave a grin that sent both shivers of terror and excitement down his spine. He had barely seen Rika smile, and definitely had never seen her smile so...impishly. "Oh sorry, Takato," She said, her voice containing a tone Takato did not recognize. "Would you like me to take off my own clothes too?" She said, bring her hands to her own shirt.

"What!?" Takato exclaimed. If Takato had stammered before, then this was a full blown-brain-meltdown. "Uhh..."

"I'll take that as a yes," Rika said, her smile growing wider, as with one quick movement, pulled off her shirt, revealing a blue...well...something. Takato had no idea what it was, but as soon as he saw it, everything in his body went in overdrive, his sweat and private parts increasing and straining as Rika brought her hands up to that blue thing...

BEEP

A loud and short "beep" caused to Takato suddenly bolt up in the middle of his bed, whacking his head on the bunk over him. "OW!" Takato exclaimed, holding his head, his eyes tearing up. Takato grouped around on his desk and turned his clock around; 1:32 A.M.

"Oh man," Takato said, holding his head, "What kind of dream was that?"

He grabbed his sheets and moved to adjust them when he felt wet. In a specific area. Turning on a small lamp, Takato groaned as he saw his pants all wet. "Ahh man," He said as he pulled his soggy underwear and pants off. "I haven't peed in my pants since I was a kid." So intense was his humiliation, Takato didn't even notice how his alleged urine was of a much different texture and color.

Throwing his underwear and pants into the wash basket, he grabbed a fresh set of underwear and pants. It was a good thing Guilmon wasn't here; although Guilmon wouldn't have laughed at him, he wasn't exactly the smartest chip on the block, and could easily let it slip to Kenta and Kazu about his "accident". Jeri would probably think it was cute, Henry would probably smile, pat him on the back, then laugh when Takato was out of hearing range. And Rika...

Takato froze, his foot hovering in mid-air above one of the legs of his pants; the thought of what Rika would do if she heard that he had a dream about her being naked...they would need a lot of doctors to put him back together.

Takato stood there for a couple of minutes, held to the spot by the numerous scenarios of pain flashing in his mid. Finally, Takato placed his pants completely on, held at peace in the fact that as long as Takato kept his mouth shut, he wouldn't have to worry about Rika.

Changing his bed sheets with fresh ones, Takato reflected on all that had happened. It had been one year since the D-Reaper had been defeated and retrogressed back into his primitive, harmless state. Takato could still remember that terrible day after, where Guilmon and the other digimon had to return to the Digital World, the bridge that allowed them to exist in the Real World closed by the same program that had defeated the D-Reaper. It was a necessary lost, but a lost none other. Luckily, the bridge repaired itself six months later, allowing partner and tamer to be reunited again. However, no good deed can go unpunished. With the bridge repaired, Digital ports opened in the Real World again, allowing not only partner Digimon, but wild Digimon to "realize" in the Real World.

The government took swift action and quickly installed Hypnos II, under the capable hands of Mitsuo Yamaki. Mr. Yamaki, the former leader of the first Hypnos, once was aimed for the complete genocide of the Digimon. Now, however, Yamaki displayed a rare trait among adults, revealing the ability to learn from his mistakes. With Hypnos II, Yamaki completely changed the policy of Hypnos II from complete genocide to what he dubbed, "The Tamer Solution". Registering the tamers Takato, Rika, Henry, Kazu Shioda, Kenta Kitagawa, as Digimon Tamers, all five were now paid, with housing provided for their Digimon and Tamers if wanted. It was a win-win situation for all, as using Tamers to eliminate the wild ones was much more effective than trying to destroy all Digimon with super weapons such as the Juggernaut. The Tamer's were paid a decent amount and while most stayed at their homes, the Digimon partners generally found much more space in the housing provided by Hypnos II.

Most of the time it was pretty much smooth sailing, Takato reflected, as he laid back on his bed. The wild ones were pretty easy to defeat by the much more powerful and experienced Digimon partners, and they only appeared a couple of times a week. However, there were times when an overwhelming wild ones would appear, and with only five active tamers, chaos could be easily wreaked before the Tamers could show up at the point of problem. And there was the problem with school, as wild ones weren't very considerate in the time they Realized, and while the Tamers were allowed by the government to be released from school to fight, it would do no good to deprive any child of their proper education.

And so Yamaki had decided to train more Tamers. With the help of Jeri Katou and Calumon, a new team of tamers was created. Most were volunteers, but a couple were selected from the government itself for some of their distinct traits.

Takato didn't know how they paired up partner and Digimon, but according to Jeri, it was through a series of complicated test and processes involving volunteered Digimon and other such test; too confusing for Takato to bother to listen, leaving Takato simply nodding to keep from hurting Jeri's feelings while she droned on, explaining the entire process.

Takato rolled over and glanced at his clock; 1:57 A.M. He really needed his sleep, with the big math test tomorrow. But as he laid back, Takato couldn't help but suspect that the sharp beep that woke him up was from his Digivice. Normally, his digivice would beep multiple times if there was a wild one needed to be taken care of. On the other hand, his Digivice had beeped once for the last couple of nights...

_Whatever_, Takato thought, as he rolled over again, and to his dismay, found himself annoyed that the dream with Rika had ended thanks to his Digivice. If only he could sleep like she probably was, without a care in the world about disturbing dreams...

* * *

"How did I get myself into this?" Rika muttered to the air.

The familiar figure of Rika Nonaka, sat huddled behind a large rock as large green blast landed around her, peppering the ground with holes and filling the air with the sounds of explosions. With the full moon and cloudless night, the area would have looked like the surface of the moon, had it not been an immensely thick layer of fog covering the area, obscuring everything beyond a foot away from the viewer.

"The same way we get into every other situation," a calm female voice replied.

Rika turned around to look at the source of the voice; Renamon, a tall yellow-furred Digimon, with body and wit reminiscent to foxes. She was a proud and majestic creature, though you couldn't tell it now, as she too laid crouched behind the rock as massive green blast continued shelling the area around them.

"What do you mean by that?" Rika indignantly cried out, not even flinching as a particularly large blast sprayed grass and dirt all over them.

Renamon shrugged. "We rush into battle and figure out what to do after we start fighting," She said calmly.

Rika bit back her retort as she thought back...

* * *

**30 Minutes Earlier **

The house had been in their family for generations, though one could only tell upon meticulous inspection. It was first owned by a fierce Japanese samurai. Whilst he was a great warrior, it was in the time when Japan was changing; western ideals and weapons were replacing the Japanese culture. Disgusted by these departures from tradition, he had built the house to proudly boast his faith in the Japanese traditions. The design reflected the old Japanese cultures and their fierce spirits.

The samurai's descendents had inherited this house, some even inheriting his fierce warrior spirit, but all inheriting the burning pride to keep said house. The family had taken great pains to make it that way, and through numerous repairs, constant paint jobs, and other regulatory methods; they had succeeded in making the ancient design look as if it was recently built.

And ancient design it was. It was a beautiful structure, with the traditional Japanese curved roofs, complete with animal statues standing guard at each entrance. There was a large amount of open land surrounding the area complete with wall and gate to keep those unwelcome out. Inside the building, there was a beautiful, albeit small, pond, filled with aquatic life. It was normally busy with activity, though at the moment was dormant, the full moon's light reflected off, giving it a bright glow. The grass was soft, as it blew lightly in the wind, accenting the beauty of the area. At the moment it was serving as a area of rest for a young fourteen-year-old girl. Her red hair pine-apple style was recognizable even from the distance, as belonging to the same girl in a recent boy's dream. With the full moon illuminating the entire area, the beauty of the landscape was matched only by the girl's beauty.

Rika Nonaka hated it all.

The house was like a small, claustrophobic box, of which there was no escape. Frustrated, Rika had gotten out of bed and lay out in the courtyard, trying to escape this sense of claustrophobia, without success. No, it wasn't that it was a small house; Rika knew better then to think that it was due to the physical dimensions of the house. If it had been so easy, Rika could have stayed in her room, which was by no means small. This stifling feeling was wrought from tradition.

The entire property was built upon tradition by a mighty Japanese samurai. Everything about it was defined by Japanese tradition, a way to stand out of all the changing times. Rika was one of the few descendents who inherited the samurai's fierce spirit, and could understand his need to define himself. She shared that same desire of independence and freedom.

Rika was also a girl.

Woman were not suppose to seek out fights. They were to help their husbands or fathers with their duties They were to be like Rika's mother, beautiful and attractive, but to leave the heavy lifting to the men. Rika did not want to sit back and make herself look pretty for boys. She didn't want to be a weak dame-distress who needed saving all the time. And to think her mother had sign her up...

Rika's thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of a voice speaking. A deep voice, possessed naught by any of the female inhabitants currently living in the building, but a male voice. Rika sat up and listened intently, trying to decipher what the words were, with no success. But that voice sounded familiar, very familiar...

Rika gasped. Could it be?

She jumped to her feet and race down the dark halls, turning corners with extremely agility, moving towards the source of the noise. It had been so long, so very long since she had seen him. She couldn't wait to see how he was, how he would think of her now that was grown up!

She turned the corner and saw light coming from the door leading to the living room. The light was bright yellow, a beautiful light. It light emitted from a old green lamp that no one had touched ever since she was little. It was where she use to read stories with him. As she moved closer to the light she felt strange. It was as if her heart was in a ice cage, frozen cold with no movement, no emotion. This light was warm, as if melting this cage, so that she couldn't help but have a spring in her step. She felt like a little girl, not the mature, tough Tamer, but just a young innocent girl.

She could hear his voice, louder as she was closer, but not close enough to hear what he was saying. Rika slowed her pace and walk slowly towards the doorway. She remembered a little game they always played, where one would sneak upon the other and attempt to scare them. It was a flawed game; she always got scared and he never even flinched. But as she would try anyway, as she tiptoed towards the doorway.

And then, as she almost turned through the doorway, it hit her like a blow to the gut. Fear struck her; what if his opinion had not changed? What if he looked at her and still thought her weak? What if, in disgust, he left again...?

It was only when Rika felt tears in her eyes did she come to her senses. Disgusted, Rika stood straight. She was acting weak again. He left her for the very actions she was displaying now. She was foolish to think of this as a game; she was older, more mature now. She did not cry. She was not weak.

The light seemed no longer as bright and happy, but simply a light to see, nothing more. The ice cage had returned around her heart, yet now it seem like a comfort, like an old friend she had an argument with but now was resolved. Rika would go in with dignity and maturity. She was emotionless.

With those inspiring thoughts, she turned the corner and saw him.

His back was turned, but Rika could recognize him even if she was wearing drunken goggles and high at the same time. He was wearing a light blue tunic and his brown hair was combed quite well. He was sitting in the old green reclining chair that he always use to sit in, the old green lamp turned on next to him. The fire was also blazing, its warmth making the room quite snug and comfortable.

Rika opened her mouth to give her salutations...but found her voice gone. Her throat seemed constricted. Despite what she had told herself before she entered, she was still frightened, with due cause though. She had not seen him in over a year; what was she to say?

"I've been expecting you,"

Rika jumped as he suddenly spoke, his voice as deep and mature as she remembered it. Her face flushed; hadn't she just told herself she was going to show him she had matured? That she was no longer a frightened little girl? She couldn't bear to look at him and starred at her feet.

"Well, are you going to say anything?"

Rika flushed even more and stammered,

"Hello...father."

Her father did not acknowledge or speak, so she continued, "It has been...awhile since I've seen you father- but that's okay!" Rika suddenly said. She didn't want him to think she missed him. Real men do not succumb to the human weakness of emotion. "How are you father?"

"You still have one more wish little girl."

"Sorry?" Rika looked up, confused.

Her father did not do anything to acknowledge her presence, instead continuing to speak. "And the girl shook her head and began to think; what would she use her last wish for?"

Rika slowly walked around the chair, and then jumped back in surprise at the sight.

Her father had not changed; his face, while young, was mature and tough looking. He was the kind of man that could handle himself in a fight, his posture constantly radiating a aura of strength. He wasn't looking at Rika, but in fact reading a picture book. While this was unusual, it was not what surprise Rika. It was the fact that although Rika was standing there, looking at her father, there sat Rika in his lap, reading the book along with her father.

Yet the Rika that sat with her father now was different. She was much younger, looking around five years old, a far cry from Rika's current age status of fourteen. Her hair was red like Rika's, but was loose and long, not tied up into her signature pine-apple spikes. The girl was garbed in a cute pink dress with white frills, topped off with small little white shoes. She had a big, happy smile on her face, which still contained a good amount of baby fat. Her eyes...

It was odd, looking into the eyes of you're younger self. They were different from Rika's eyes, the same shade of lavender, but still different. It was like looking at someone in a different angle of lighting; film were continual proof of how different lighting shades can completely change ones appearance. A innocent little boy can look like a mad child with the right lighting. While there was no lighting in little Rika's eyes, they seemed to glow, as if charged with some kind of mystical quality. They were eyes filled with love and innocence, eyes that had not seen the hardships of life.

_Did I have eyes like that?_ Rika thought. Clearly so, as she was looking into what appeared to be her younger self, listening to her father read a story out loud.

Both of Rika's father and little Rika appeared not to be able to see her, as Rika's father continued to read; "And then the little girl looked into a pail of water and saw her own reflection. She was not ugly, nor however was she beautiful. She was plain, with nothing special in her appearance. So she turned to the Genie and said, in a calm, clear voice,-"

Rika's father then buffed his chest out and attempted to mimic the high pitch voice of a female with his deep, gruff voice. "I wish to be the most beautiful girl in the world!"

Little Rika laughed, an innocent, happy laugh and Rika smiled. She had forgotten about her father's different voices, or lack of. His voice was deep and gruff, with no flexibility at all. Understanding that, he still continued to try and change his voice to amuse her when she was a little kid, always succeeding to bring a laugh out when she was a kid. Her father smiled at little Rika and then continued, "And the Genie nodded, and with a snap of his fingers, the girl was changed into a beautiful woman. Other girls could only her beauty! The strongest men were reduced to their knees at her allure, their minds dominated only by the thought of her comeliness! Whole kingdoms laid at her feet, powerless! The world was her oyster, as she-"

"Daddy, daddy," Little Rika interrupted, tugging on her father's shirt. Rika winced a little at her high-pitched voice.

Her father looked away from the book at little Rika. "Yes?"

"Do you think I'm pretty?"

Her father stiffled a yawn, as if little Rika had asked this question multiple time; which she probably had. "Yes, you are pretty, little Rika," He said, his gruff voice doing nothing to hide his boredom.

"How pretty?" Little Rika asked, ignorant to the boredom of her father.

"Very pretty," Rika's father deadpanned. Then his face seem to light up, as he suddenly hoisted Rika up from his lap into his arms. He stood up and sigh happily, "You're so pretty that when you grow up, boys will have dreams of you!"

Little Rika's face formed a pout, the kind that only little kids have the power to do. "But daddy! I don't want icky boys to think about me!"

Her father gave a roaring laugh. There were many times when Rika's father laughed, but only a few times when he gave his "roaring laugh". Most times it was a masculine chuckle, but there times when he found something generally funny and laughed, his laugh a delightful, happy laugh. It was the kind of laughter that was contagious as Rika's younger self began to laugh also.

The scene was so odd; a large grown man and a little girl in his arms both laughing their heads off. And then Rika began to laugh too.

There are moments in you're life when you'll laugh and all your problems seem to disappear. Everything seems to be delightful and funny, and you're heart seems to burst with happiness. The blood will flow through you're veins, giving oxygen and renewed energy to the host, giving you a warm, fuzzy feeling. Your brain will release enzymes and you will experience clarity and sight, often associated with epiphanies. And you will laugh.

Rika hadn't felt this good in seemingly forever. The ice cage around her heart seem to shatter as her heart expanded. Everything seemed so beautiful as she laughed. Rika's worries and anger about her mother's plans disappeared into the laughs that filled the room now.

And then Rika's mother, garbed in a bath robe, walked in and shouted, "What are you doing!? It's ten o'clock at night! Rika needs her sleep!"

Instantly the laughter stopped. Rika's father put Little Rika down onto the chair and stood up. No longer was his face joyful and happy. Now it was hard and cold. "I'm perfectly aware what the time is, thank you very much. I was just reading a bed time story for Rika, like any loving parent would do."

Rika's mother bristled. "What's that suppose to mean? I'm the one who got you to read those stories to Rika because you weren't even paying attention to her!"

"It's not my fault that you're the one always dressing her up in those little dresses so she can be all pretty like you!" Rika's father shouted back.

"Theres nothing wrong with that! Beauty brings in money! Unlike you, with you're small little business!" Rika's mother glared at Rika's father.

Rika's father flushed. "Don't you dare lecture me on business!! I don't even get how you get any money at all, seeing how ugly and weak you are!"

Now it was Rika's mother's turn to flush red. "Why you-!!"

Rika had enough. She covered both her ears and just shut her eyes close, and shouted, "SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!"

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Rika woke up instantly to the sound of loud, sharp beeps. The lit living room and the shouting parents had disappeared; she was back in her room. Normally pitch black, it a bright glow was emitting from her beeping D-Arc, piercing the darkness. Sitting up, she fumbled around for her D-Arc and disabled the system alarm before it began alerting the other D-Arcs. Reading the data on screen, she fumed; she had let one beep go through to the other D-Arcs. Oh well, hopefully the rest will think it a false alarm or some other system beeping.

Pressing another button, she connected with Hypnos II's system computer.

**Connecting...**

**D-Arc connection recognized. User: Rika Nonaka.**

**Situation: Wild One Bioemergence**

**Digimon: Unknown**

**Type: Unknown**

**Attribute: Unknown**

**Special Attack: Unknown **

**Biolgical Characteristics: Unknown**

**Power: Rookie level**

**Threat level: Unable to determine**

**Recommended Number of Tamers: 2**

**Recommended Course of Action: Proceed with immense caution, prioritizing recon over action.**

Rika snorted. Rookie level needing two tamers? Rika Nonaka, queen of the Digimon, needing to proceed with immense caution against such a low level digimon? The thought was laughable. Rika made a mental note to speak to Mitsuo Yamaki about updating the Hypnos II logs, as she manipulated the screen.

**Accessing city map...Complete**

The data on screen was quickly replaced by a map of the city. Focusing on a blinking dot, she zoomed further in, where a label appeared over the dot; **Realization Point: WestShinjukuPark**.

Rika smiled, taking in a moment to realize the irony in the situation; Guilmon, Takato's digimon use to hide in that park, and as that was before the Tamer Solution, would be classified as a Wild One. The fact that the computer was noting a Wild One in the park when there had been one there for so many months was a product of mild amusement.

Then Rika suddenly felt very wet and damp. Glancing down she realized that her pajamas were soaked from head-to-toe in sweat. Confused, Rika conceived that her breathing was also utterly erratic, as if she had just run a marathon. What had rendered her in such a state...?

Oh yeah. That dream, or daresay nightmare.

She didn't remember the incident, but then again, when she was younger, her mother and father did fight a lot. There was nothing in that incident that made it any different from any other fights she had witnessed. Still, she had a sense of foreboding, a cold chill in the pit of her stomach whenever she thought of it. It was like she knew what happened that day but couldn't remember; it was just buried in the back of her mind...

Shaking her head, Rika cleared her head of those thoughts. It was just some stupid dream about the past; she didn't care for dreams or history, she just kept moving on. Plus, there was a wild one to be taken care of. Pausing only to catch her breath, Rika promptly stripped off her drenched pajamas and threw on her standard attire; her heart shirt given to her by her mother and jeans buckled with brown belt. She clipped on her D-Arc and card pack, then tied her long red hair into her traditional red spikes.

And there was one more thing to do before she was ready, and it was the most important of all. Standing straight up, Rika spoke in a calm, clear voice;

"Renamon."

* * *

One of the odd things that have befounded scientist repeatedly is how Digimon take on the appearance and abilities of old folklore and legends of humanity. True, Digimon are composed of the data from the digital network and many of the Digimon were artificially created, their appearances drawn by one of the children of the Monster Makers. However, only a couple of Digimon were custom created. The rest evolved along with the program. Why such a vast majority hail to more ancient legends rather than more modern conceptions is a mystery's who's answer is along with the answer of whether is truly a soul or what the mean of life is. As such, the majority of scientist who study Digimon, particularly the ones at Hypnos II have long since accepted the way things are and moved on to more practical experiments.

Despite this, the Hypnos II scientists could not suppress their curiousity. While they abandoned the discovering of why Digimon modeled themselves after certain legends, they could still focused their attentions upon the abilities of Digimon. Abilities such as the spawning of fire from mouth. The creation of wind so powerful as to create a tornado. The speed and mentality required to spin so fast that the time flow of a warp hole is reversed. And of course, the ability to teleport.

Renamon was part of the many digimon with abilities and appearance similar to old legends and folktale. In this case it was that of the Kitsune, Japanese for fox. The fox was subject to many Japanese folktales, so much that Kitsune is now synonymous to its folktale version. To say fox was to speak of the normal, flesh-and-blood one-tailed foxes, native to the real world.

To speak of Kitsune was to speak of multi-tailed foxes with intelligence to match and surpass that of man. These foxes, which could have up to nine tails, were capable of easily conquering mankind, put preferred benevolence or simply mischievousness. It was good for Man, for in a time where sword and arrow ruled the battlefield, Kitsune were attributed many abilities such as possession, generation of fire or lightning, flight, invisibility...and the ability to warp time and space.

Truthfully, Renamon did not know how she warped the space time continuum; it was something she simply could do. All she knew was that it related to the Kitsune, hence why every time she teleported, a ghostly flute sound played. She did not question it, nor hesitate to use it to get away from all the fanatic scientist at Hypnos II. It was one of the main reasons why Renamon didn't live in the living quarters provided by the government. Plus, Rika never had a problem with her living in her spacious home, and here Renamon could protect Rika if necessary.

Renamon was sitting upon the roof of her Rika's home, as she often did. It was in this area where she would sit and gaze at the stars. Stars were a rare occurrence in the Digital World. Most of the time, all you could see in the Digital World was the massive globe of the Real World. However, at the moment Renamon was ignorant to the beauty of the night. She was gazing at her reflection in the pond of Rika's backyard.

In the few times Renamon looked into the pond, she saw a proud, tall beast, coated in yellow fur. Her arms were covered in purple gloves up to her elbows, and her yellow tailed lay curled next to her legs, the white tip often resting in her lap. Her pointed ears and sharp blue eyes gave her a intimidating look, and in combination with her feral features, she was often associated with the _Vulpini_ family, hence the attributes of the Kitsune. She was taller than most rookie Digimon and, she daresay, more talented than other rookie leveled Digimon. A proud, majestic creature, Renamon was the perfect partner for the powerful tamer Rika.

Yet as she gazed at her reflection, Renamon realized times had changed. Her yellow fur, which had been so beautifully groomed, was ruffled and unkempt. Her normally untouched body sported small bruises. Her normal bright blue eyes were dull and tired. Her tail was stiff and numb from when a fat ogre had managed to get a lucky hit on it. Renamon's gloves were off, revealing bandages wrapped around her bruised hands. Even her ears seem to droop a bit.

Renamon, however, was not surprised. She was expert weapon of destruction, but she had her limits. The number of fights Renamon and Rika had in the last couple of weeks without any backup...

Renamon knew Rika was disabling the signal from being sent out to the other Tamers every time the alarm went off; Rika had confided in her after their third fight alone. Although Renamon had her doubts, she did not voice them or ask why Rika was so insistent on fighting alone; she trusted her. If Renamon needed to know something important, Rika would tell her. Until then, Renamon would keep her mouth shut. That meant no complaint or crying about how the fights were tiring her. That would be disgusting. If Rika was willing to keep fighting, then so was Renamon.

And Renamon knew a fight was coming, as she heard four sharp beeps coming from within Rika room. Quickly throwing her gloves over her bandaged hands, she stretched out sore limbs. Ignoring the pain, Renamon looked at her reflection again. She was Renamon, worthy partner to the Digimon Tamer Rika. She did not know the meaning of pain. She did not know the meaning of failure.

Then why did her reflection seem so weak?

"Renamon."

Renamon disappeared as she bent the time and space continuum, a mystical ghost flute sound playing in the background, leaving her confusing thoughts and reflection behind. It was the time for battle, not words.

And her reflection...blinked

* * *

A loud explosion brought Rika back to the present, as the green blast continued to shell the area around her and Renamon.

"Okay," Rika conceded. "We went into this Digital Field by ourselves with no knowledge other than our own combat skills and the location of this Digital Field. So maybe we did rush into this situation. But!" Rika held up on finger which she quickly withdrew as it nearly got blasted off. "But all the other Wild Ones we fought before did not have a Digital Field this thick, nor did are they this...this..."

"This smart?" Renamon suggested, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Well, that is besides the point. We need some more firepower. Should I digivolve?"

Rika shook her head, bringing up her Digivice and activating the radar. **No Signal** was all she received on the screen."No, we shouldn't waste your energy. The computer manage to pick out that it was a Rookie level Digimon. You're skilled enough to defeat it if we can just see through this fog! But-" Rika rummaged through her card pack. "I don't have any cards here that can help us! If only I had more...cards..."

"Rika?" Renamon inquired as Rika trailed off. She looked over and saw Rika looking pensive; an odd sight for Rika in general, much less how out of place it looked with the shelling of the Digimon blast. "I hope you're silence indicates the beginnings of a plan Rika." Renamon continued.

Rika smiled, and Renamon's fur immediately bristled. She knew the smile. Rika always smiled like that before she did something extremely and ludicrously dangerous. "What is it?" Renamon demanded.

"Renamon," Rika said, still smiling. "Do you remember where Takato and Kazu and Kenta play the Digimon card game all the time?"

"Yes, of course, they played it in that little-" Renamon's eyes narrowed even more. "It's going to tough. It's pretty far from here. I'm going to need some extra speed."

"Way ahead of you Renamon!" Rika exclaimed, pulling out a card. "Digimodify!"

Rika twirled the card and slashed it through the D-Arc. "Hyper speed activate!"

Immediately, Renamon felt power rippling through her. She felt as if she could run around the world in mere seconds, making the distance between the boy's hideout and this bench seem laughably easy. Wasting no time, Renamon picked Rika up and exploded from their cover.

The world seemed to shift and exploded; the sky was filled with falling green blast reminiscent of shoot stars and the ground was filled with flying dirt and debris and pot holes, as Renamon ducked and weaved through the field. The sudden burst had taken the Wild One by surprise; the blast were no where close to Renamon and Rika as they ran through the field at high speeds. But this one had good reactions as the green energy balls immediately shifted and fell around them as they ran. And boy, it was like there was no fog at all, as the green blast forced Renamon to jump back and duck repeatedly. Clearly this Wild One had some kind of ability to see through the fog and had enough brains to take advantage of it by trying to shell them from far away.

"Hold on Rika, we're almost there!" Renamon shouted, jumping and crouching over a hole and under two falling green blast. Rika looked up and saw a purple structure with blue,red and orange spots covering had come into view. It look like some sort of creature with no head, as it stood upon its four legs with its tail laying behind it. Four plastic horns rose from the top and a clock decorated the front of it. This was the hideout of Takato, Kazu, and Kenta, and also where they played the Digimon card game. Renamon was right; they were almost there! They were going to make it!

And then Renamon cried and lurched as a green blast smashed into her side causing her to almost drop Rika as she fell. Renamon growled and flipped over giving Rika a clear view of the blast coming towards them.

"He's close by!" Rika shouted, as Renamon ducked and rolled over to avoid the incoming blast. They were no longer arcing through the night, falling from the sky like artillery. Now the green blast were coming faster and moving in straight lines, as if the Wild One was now close enough to start sniping them instead of shelling. Not good, as it gave Renamon less time to react and with they Hyperspeed modify card running out, this was a sticky situation. There was only one way they'd be able to make it.

"Hold on!" Renamon shouted, and then the world seemed to blur as Renamon sprinted. Rika could feel the power bursting through Renamon, as if it was bursting through her own body. She could also feel her pain as three more green blast slammed into Renamon, taking advantage of the fact that she was no longer dodging, instead running straight towards the structure. _Hang on_ _Renamon,_ Rika thought, _Just a little bit further..._

And right as a larger, more powerful green blast was about to impact, just as the hyper speed modify card ended, the whole world seemed to bend. Trees, grass, green blast, structures, even light seemed to twist and compact into a small hole, like water going down a drain. There was only black in this world, if world was the correct term, as Renamon bent the space time continuum and teleported. Rika couldn't breath, as there was no air to breath, her lungs seemed to burst and cry as they screamed for more oxygen, but there was none in this place...

And then everything seemed to unravel and reverse, as the all matter seemed to untwist out from wherever they were went, as Rika and Renamon phased into the structure, the strange ghostly flute signifying their presence. It was a decently sized area, large enough to fit the three boy Tamer and just big enough for Renamon and Rika to fit in comfortably. Three shoe boxes sat at the end of the room, but Rika ignored them as she looked Renamon, her lavender eyes filled with concern; she did not care to keep an image, for Renamon was her partner and true friend who knew all of her weaknesses.

"Are you alright Renamon?" Rika asked, looking at the burned patches of fur where the green blast had impacted. Already there were dark bruises forming.

"I will live," Renamon replied, panting. The sprint and tanking of the blows had taken a lot out of her. Rika quickly pulled out another card from her pack and slashed it through the Digivice.

"Digimodify! Medic Patch activate!" Rika shouted.

The spots on Renamon glowed, as the data temporarily repaired itself. It wasn't permanent, but it would last long enough for the fight. Digimon healed quickly, but they needed time to rest, which was a luxury they did not have as the structure rocked from the impacts of the green blast. Rika quickly overturned the three shoe boxes, searching for anything in their that could help them.

"There's got to be something here," Rika said, shifting through there cards. "I mean, with all these cards the boys have, theres got to be something that can help us! Ah ha!" Rika shouted victoriously, pulling out a card from the stack.

Rika showed the card to Renamon. "A signal boost card! Now we can find out who we're up against Renamon! Digimodify! Signal Boost activate!"

Rika slashed the card through the D-Arc reader. The screen beeped with the words **Signal Found**, and began display information on the screen.

**Connecting...**

**D-Arc connection recognized. User: Rika Nonaka.**

**Situation: Wild One Bioemergence**

**Digimon: BlackAgumon**

**Type: Reptile Digimon/Dinosaur Digimon**

**Attribute: Virus**

**Special Attack: Pepper Breath **

**Biolgical Characteristics: Red eyes capable of infrared vision**

**Power: Rookie level**

**Threat level: Medium**

**Recommended Number of Tamers: 2**

**Recommended Course of Action: Proceed with immense caution. The fog of the Digital field will give BlackAgumon the advantage with its infrared vision. Utilize the BlackAgumon Infrared Vision Modify card and Heat Signature Mask Modify Card or Renamon Diamond Storm Ability(held in, not shot out) for best results.**

"That certainly explains how the Wild One could attack us so effectively," Renamon commented after reading the **Biological Characteristics** and **Recommended Course of Action**. "I have my diamond storm attack; do we have the BlackAgumon Infrared Vison Modify card?"

"Yep!" Rika said, pulling out the card from the large pile of Digimon cards. "I hope Kazu doesn't mind me using this; not like I would care anyway. Digimodify! BlackAgumon Infrared Vision Modify!"

Renamon's eyes flared and turned from their sharp blue to a deep red. Rika assumed that the digital modification had been successful. "What's it like?" Rika asked.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Renamon replied.

Rika concentrated, closing her eyes and look deep into herself, looking for the power. It was a power that all humans had, a power similar to that of **_Chi,_** but only some humans utilized. One had to access this power at a young age or be forever without it once they reached adult hood. It was this power that attracted Digimon to human, making them partner and Tamer. It was this power that connected the two so deeply, they could feel what the other felt, and in four cases, merge with their partners to create a powerful Digimon. It was the **_Teimāzu_**, the power of the Tamers.

Rika dug deep down into her pool of **_Teimāzu _**and found her connection to Renamon. It was an odd sensation when she felt it, a mixture of respect and happiness bottled into one seemed to flow through her when she accessed it. Concentrating hard, she dove into it and sought to borrow part of Renamon's power. She then opened her eyes.

"My god..." Rika could only whisper. "It's beautiful..."

The world was now bathed in a pleasing mixture or orange, red and purple where there was heat and grey where there was none. It was an amazing sight to see.

"Yes, it is." Renamon replied. "Diamond Storm!"

Renamon folded her arms and concentrated. Like her ability to teleport, Renamon did not know how she managed to create or summon diamonds to her. It was simply one of the mysteries of Digimon abilities that would most likely mystify scientist for ages to come. Serving as sharp and powerful weapons that were deadly when shot out, they would server another purpose; masking the heat signature of her body. The diamonds spawned and almost shot out, but Renamon concentrated and held the diamonds in place. Renamon seemed to disappear in front of Rika's eyes.

"It's working Renamon," Rika said. "I can't see you at all."

"Then it is time to eliminate this Wild One," Renamon replied, moving towards the exit. "Remain here and watch with me Rika."

Rika nodded and accessed her **_Teimāzu _**again, as Renamon jumped out. This time, instead of borrowing power, she sought to move herself into Renamon, like she would when she wanted to Biomerge. However, she sought only to move her eyes, not her entire body. It was tough work, like trying to push a car through mud, but Rika kept pushing and pushing...

And then she could see through Renamon's eyes. Renamon was walking slowly up behind BlackAgumon, for holding the diamond storm required too much energy for her to be able to move at high speeds or utilize her signature teleportation ability. This BlackAgumon was like an Agumon of another Digital Universe, but not the one that belonged to a certain lanky haired, goggled, soccer-loving boy. Nah, this BlackAgumon was huge, bearing more a similarity to the Agumon that would later evolve into the Greymon that would cause certain Digidestined to become Digital Destined. He stood about six feet high, covering from head to toe in black, though he looked orange through Renamon's eyes. His dark red infrared eyes remained fixed upon the structure where Rika resided.

BlackAgumon remained oblivious to Renamon, as he starting powering up a massive green blast. Renamon crept slowly, making nary a sound, getting closer and closer. When she was close enough she would release the full brunt of her Diamond Storm into BlackAgumon's back. Champion Digimon had fallen at the onslaught of diamonds; a rookie like BlackAgumon stood no chance.

Closer and closer Renamon crept until she was almost on top of him. A smile played out on Renamon and Rika's faces; the tables had turned. It was now their turn to take him by surprise. And he was going down. Hard.

"Diamond-!"

When Renamon had burst from the rock, Rika in her arms and the power of a Hyper Speed Modify Card pulsing through her body, she had observed how fast BlackAgumon had reacted. Only one or two blast had been completely off before the rest had starting falling frightening close. It was perhaps these reflexes that saved BlackAgumon; or maybe he had some kind of sixth sense. Whatever the case maybe, as soon as Renamon began shouting, BlackAgumon flipped around and roared, "PEPPER BREATH!"

The massive green blast that Agumon had been charging flew at alarming velocities towards Renamon, crushing the diamonds that Renamon released and the yellow vixen herself.

Or would have if Renamon hadn't quickly jumped out of the way. Surprise she may be, it didn't stop her from moving.

Nor did it BlackAgumon, as he roared and swung his claws at Renamon. Renamon ducked the blow and threw a punch at BlackAgumon. He blocked and then roared again, swing his claws and slamming his head forward. Power seemed to radiate off him; this Digimon was powerful.

But Renamon was powerful too; just in another way. While BlackAgumon possessed insane strength, Renamon contained equally fast speed and agility. It was a beautiful dance she wove, as she moved, ducked, and jumped over BlackAgumon's insane barrage of strikes. The smile had returned to the face of both Tamer and Digimon. Fast reflexes and large strength BlackAgumon may have, but the surprise and shock was over. This was Renamon's game now, for her speed completely nulled BlackAgumon's strength. And as she continued evading BlackAgumon's attacks, her right paw glowed a ghostly blue light, as she summonded the powers of the Kitsune to her fist. Rika felt the power too, a mystical energy building up in her right hand. She saw Renamon's own hand turn bright blue as the power amplified and reach its max. All she needed was an opening.

But Renamon was one of the fighters who didn't wait for openings. They made them.

And Renamon did just that as she grabbed BlackAgumon's paw and threw it the side exposing his stomach. "WISTERIA PUNCH!" Renamon screamed, and slammed her fist right into BlackAgumon's stomach.

_CRACK_

BlackAgumon's back seemed to budge, as Renamon's fist ripped into BlackAgumon's soft underbelly with a loud cracking sound. BlackAgumon's red eyes widen as he made an odd gurling sound as all the wind in his body was forced out of his lungs. His whole body seemed to tremble with the impact of the blow, as blue energy crackled all over his body.

And then Rika and Renamon saw it. They had been to far away to see it, but now that they were up close they could see it clearly. All over BlackAgumon's stomach there were scars. Huge, deep, long scars. Scars from battles fought long past. Scars that were created and given by enemy digimon. Scars that had taught this Digimon to fight. To never. **ever.**

**Give up.**

**_BANG-_**_crunch_

Rika and Renamon didn't even see BlackAgumon's claw move, as he slammed his fist into Renamon's face. Both Tamer and partner flew back, as the punch created a loud bang. Blood exploded out of Rika mouth and nose; by being connected with Renamon, she felt her pain and her body responded accordingly by loosing forth blood and cutting off the connection with Renamon. But it was not herself that Rika was worried about; she had just felt the pain, not taken the blow.

Digging into her **_Teimāzu _**again, Rika concentrated and reconnected with Renamon. She needed to see what had happened...Oh god.

The world turned into infrared again, but Rika was ignorant to its beauty as she looked through Renamon's eyes. She could not believe it had happened, as she used her power and pulled out of Renamon, getting a look at her from the outside perspective.

Renamon's entire nose had been shattered, the tip actually completey severed. Blood poured freely out of the gaping hole, as Renamon struggled to keep conciousness; a futile quest and completely in vain. A deep, dark chortle could be heard from BlackAgumon, as he moved to finish the job. Blood flowed freely from the wound Renamon had given him, but he ignored it; just another scar to add onto his many scars and victories over his enemies. Their data flowed through his veins even as he moved now, and so soon, would the data of this Digimon partner flow through his and add through their strength.

"Rena...Renamon!" Rika cried, her eyes watering. My god, she looked so helpless. No, she was helpless, as she continued to bleed all over the floor. If only Rika hadn't let her pride blind her, and just let Renamon digivolve, she would have crushed BlackAgumon. She wouldn't be in such a pitiful state now, bleeding all over the ground in agonizing pain, waiting to be slaughtered like a helpless chicken. Now it was too late for her to digivolve; she was completely out of energy and in too much pain to complete the evolution too.

"Renamon..." Rika whispered. "I'm sorry, please don't die..." And then Rika screamed, "RENAMON DON'T DIE!"

And then Rika felt it. While she was right that Renamon had no more power, there was still a source Renamon could access, a source that still had power that could be given to Renamon.

Rika's own **_Teimāzu._**

And then her D-Arc glowed, and words appeared.

**Digivolution.**

A bright light engulfed Renamon, and Rika could here Renamon's voice as she shouted,

"Renamon digivolve to...Kyubimon!"

Gone was the tall, yellow-furred vixen Digimon. Arise the true form of the Kitsune, as the nine-tailed yellow fox of Kyubimon stood, mystical blue flames a light at the top of each of her nine tails. Renamon's destroyed nose had been replaced by Kyubimon's long snout, as Kyubimon's blue eyes glared at BlackAgumon. They had were no longer infrared, but it mattered not. Kyubimon could see him.

BlackAgumon stepped back and fear shined through his red eyes. This was a powerful rookie, one who had seen and won many battles. But this was a battle he knew he could not win, as he shuffled back.

But gone too was the smile that had plagued Renamon and Rika's lips. This was no longer a game. It was war. And war had to be ended.

"Fox Tail Inferno!" Kyubimon shouted, the blue flames on Kyubimon's tails flaring up. Nine blue flames appeared around BlackAgumon, trapping him. There was no escape for him. Only destruction.

And BlackAgumon starred directly at Kyubimon and smiled, the fear gone, as he accepted his death. And he uttered his first words since the battle had been joined, his voice deep and animalistic, a feral growl.

"Be prepared. Be prepared."

And then the flames slammed into and wiped BlackAgumon from existence.

* * *

"Renamon!" Rika shouted, jumping out from the incredibly burned and singed hideout. She sprinted through the field and ran up to Renamon's side, who had dedigivolved from Kyubimon and now laid on the ground. Rika reached her and shook it her. "Renamon!"

Renamon cracked open her eyes. "Ughh..." She moaned, then suddenly reached up to her face and felt her nose; it had repaired thanks to the digivolution. The only trace that it had ever been hurt was the large amount of blood that laid glistening on the ground.

"Are you alright Renamon?" Rika asked, her voice worried; with due cause of course. She had just seen part of Renamon's nose ripped off.

"Yes," Renamon replied, coolly but tiredly. "Though a good nights sleep and rest would do me much good."

Rika laughed in relief. "Yeah, you definitely deserve it Renamon. Here, let me help you get up," She said, as she hoisted Renamon up. For a split second, Rika worried about getting lost. But the Digital Field was already disappearing, the fog thinning and dissipated, allowing her to see.

What Rika saw did not bode well.

A enormous amount of police cars and black vans belonging to Hypnos II sat, their sirens whirling. Dozens of people were running around, and paramedics ran up to Rika and Renamon.

"Ugh, what the heck?" Rika exclaimed, confused.

"I could be asking you the same question," A deep male voice said behind her.

Rika whirled around to see the black-suited Mitsuo Yamaki of Hypnos II standing behind her. He was wearing his typical shades and flicking his silver lighter that he always carried around. Nodding towards the paramedic he said to Rika, "Please allow these medics to apply aid to Renamon. And clean yourself up," He said his voice angry as he threw a handkerchief to Rika; she suddenly realized that her face was still covered in blood. "After you do that," Yamaki continued, "Get into my car. We're going to Hypnos II. You have some explaining to do."

Rika could only look down as she wiped the blood off her face. There was nothing else she could do.

* * *

**"And so...It begins." **The voice said. "**Hahaha... Oh yes, It begins."**


	2. Brutality

Chapter 2: Brutality

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon

(A/N: The character Dario was not created by me. He was contributed by "Digidrew" of DCG Forums [Bandaicg's Offical Forums. Thanks Digidrew!)

"True courage is not the brutal force of vulgar heroes, but the firm resolve of virtue and reason." -Whitehead

A warm breeze blew through the street, picking up small pieces of trash and blowing them around with its might. A single dimly lit lamp pole stood erect over the street, its beam piercing the light and illuminating the dark. Moths buzzed fiercely around the single lamp, their small bodies casting small moving shadows over the ground.

A single boy stepped into the light, his goggles briefly flashing, reflecting the light. His hair blew lightly along with the breeze, but unlike the cans and papers, remained fixed upon the boy's head. He raised a single hand, as if to show his defiance to the wind, his insubordination to bend. A rebel, as he pushed his hair down, one who did not bend to the might of the wind.

In reality, Takato was dead tired, as he pushed his hair down; stupid wind kept messing it up. He had just gotten back to sleep when his stupid D-Arc began ringing again; ringing not beeping. Takato was tempted to ignore it; after all, it wasn't beeping like the Wild One emergence alarm did, so why should he pick up?

Actually, he did ignore it, until his parents, haven been woken up by the insistent ringing, barged into his room, yelling at Takato to shut off his cell phone; an interesting statement, as Takato did not have a cell phone despite his constant begging. However, when they noticed that it was in reality his D-Arc, they had attempted to get him back to sleep; after all, there are very few parents who would voluntary allowed their children to go into potentially dangerous situations.

However, it was too late. Takato had woken up completely, and his curiosity had been wakened as well, as he picked up the D-Arc and brought up the screen.

There was a message on screen.

**Come to Hypnos II immediately. We will send you transportation. -Yamaki**

And so Takato had dressed into his outside clothes and stood outside his family's bakery at two in the morning, dead tired, waiting for his transportation. Why he was being summoned, he did not know; probably another stupid random meeting or evaluations that the government seemed to enjoy randomly holding at the most inopportune of times. He remembered last time he had been talking to Rika and...

And then Takato felt it.

It was as if someone had turned the thermometer down thirty degrees or suddenly sticking ones hand into ice cold water. The warm air became stiff and cold. Takato let out a breath and started; it was the middle of summer and his breath was visible, gaining enough mass to be seen. Takato flipped around and looked at his home; the window was starting to fog up.

"What...What the heck?" Takato managed to say as he shivered.

And then it was gone as soon as it had come. The stiff air become flexible again, as everything became warm again. Takato flipped around and looked at his family's bakery window; it didn't seem like anything had happened at all. There was no fog or ice or frost or anything at all to signify a temperature change.

"Huh..." Was all Takato could say, as headlights suddenly pierced the night. A black van rolled up next to Takato with the words "**Hypnos II**" emblazoned on the side. The door slide open and a young boy wearing a blue visor bent out and shouted, "Oi! Takato, get in!"

Takato glanced at the bakery window one last time; nothing. Maybe he had just imagined it...

"Hurry up Takato!" the boy shouted, waving at him. "Jeez man, you're so slow!"

"Ah, shut up Kazu!" Takato shouted back, jumping into the van, closing the door behind him and leaving the weird incident behind him.

Little did Takato realize, as the van sped away towards the familiar towers of Hypnos II. A sign had blocked him from seeing a massive crack that lay across the corner of the window. A crack created from the glass expanding quickly, an expansion only caused by a sudden temperature changed...

* * *

The interior of the van was a dark black color, laminated by the two lights at top. Normally there were many computer monitors and screens, but they had been replaced by leather brown seat rows, akin and organized like those of a limoscene. The seats were quite soft; the government certainly enjoyed doing itself well. 

Stepping into the van, Takato nodded to the driver. "Agent Royce," Takato said, addressing him as he closed the door and put on his seatbelt.

"Good evening Mr. Matsuki," Agent Royce grunted shortly, before sending the van on its way.

Takato smiled; Agent Royce was the Tamers official driver, as none of them could drive yet. He was assigned to protect and escort them around the city when necessary...which was almost never. The Tamers often used their Digimon for transportation and these same Digimon could protect them from exterior threats. Agent Royce job was a mere formality to make parents feel better, and as a means to travel in style. Takato was pretty sure he hated the job; it was pretty boring and a waste of skills like his. But then again he was a trained agent who would follow orders to the letter. It just meant that he wasn't very sociable.

"Man Takato, if you move any slower, you'll be a dumb as Kenta here!" Kazu jeered.

"Hey!" Kenta moaned. "That's no fair."

Takato just laughed. Turning to the two boys lounging in the back, Takato recognized them as his two friends Kazu Shioda and Kenta Kitagawa. Kazu was a dressed in his usual blue shirt and dark-yellow pants, topped off with blue shoes. A yellow cross decorated his shirt along with a blue visor that cast a shadow over his black eyes. A practical joker and comedian, Kazu always wore that visor no matter the weather. Takato didn't know why, but he learned not to try to understand Kazu's odd methods; it was simply too hard! Despite his continuous jokes and teasing, Kazu was one of Takato's best friends who was always there for him.

In fact, Takato only had two close friends before he met the Tamers; Kazu and Kenta Kitagawa, the boy sitting next to Kazu. With his messy black hair and large glasses covering his black eyes, Kenta was often the brunt of many jokes, but none of them were serious. He was a great guy, though sometimes a bit clumsy and could be a bit cowardly at times. But that was mostly due to his parents. In fact, along with his traditional gray coat, orange shirt, and brown pants, he was garbed in a ridiculously large brown and green scarf that was wrapped many times around his body and arms, making him look like he was wrapped in a cocoon. It was the type that provided excellent warmth and was prefect for winter...except it was the middle of summer right now.

"Uh...What's with the scarf Kenta?" Takato asked, pointing to the monstrous thing that seemed to be swallowing the small Kenta.

"Ha! His mom gave it to him!" Kazu said, slapping Kenta on the back while laughing. "Apparently she thought he would be cold...in the middle of summer!"

"What??" Takato exclaimed, confused. Kenta's mother was an overprotective mother, but he couldn't imagine her putting Kenta through such torture of keeping the enormous beast of a scarf on.

"It isn't like that!" Kenta objected. "It's just...well...I said I was cold cause I felt a really weird cold chill and then...well you know my mom."

_A cold chill? Wait a minute...I felt one too!_ Takato thought. But Kazu cut in and said seriously, "Man, you're either really crazy or really brave to keep that on."

Kenta looked up. "Wow, you think I'm-?"

"And we all know its the former!" Kazu shouted, laughing. "Come on, lets get this off of you!" Kazu grabbed the scarf and started unwrapping it from Kenta's body.

Takato slide over and joined in. "I wonder how big this scarf is," Takato commented, unwrapping the huge artifact as he forgot about the strange cold chilll.

**Five minutes later**

"Holy crap..." Was all Kazu could say, as he continued to unwrap the scarf.

"How the heck did you survive in this heat Kenta?" Takato asked, the awe in his voice clearly evident."

All Kenta could do was blush as they continued unwrapping the scarf.

**Ten minutes later**

"Jeez...I think the better question is how you managed to stand with all that on you?!" Kazu exclaimed, his forehead sweaty from the continuous unwrapping.

"Yeah, this thing is big enough to cover entire van floor!" Takato cried, in a similar state, as he gestured to the ground. Sure enough, the boys were ankle deep in the scarf.

"Hey, do you guys know where we're getting called here?" Kenta asked, in an obvious attempt to change the subject. "MarineAngemon and I were sleeping peacefully when we got the message!" Kazu took out a snoring MarineAngemon, Kazu's small Mega Digimon, from his pocket.

"I mean seriously; it's two in the morning! What could possibly be so urgent they need to call us now!?"

Kazu leaned back and yawned, throwing his arms behind his head. "Dunno, I was hoping to use this time to study for our math test that we have tomorrow- I mean today."

"Why didn't you study it last night like a normal person?" Kenta probed.

"Cause cool kids study late; plus I couldn't sleep cause I was trying to drink a hundred cups of coffee."

"Why would you do that??" Kenta cried.

"Hey, I saw on a TV show that if you drink a hundred cups of coffee, time moves slowly," Kazu replied calmly.

Kenta rolled his eyes. "I guess you believe everything you see on TV," Kenta said sarcastically, readjusting his glasses.

"I sure do!" Kazu replied sharply, surprising Kenta. "Where do you think he came from then?"

Kazu pointed at the snoring MarineAngemon, who slept peacefully on Kenta's lap. Kenta blushed and muttered, "Good point."

"Maybe-" Both Kenta and Kazu started and looked up. They had forgotten Takato was there, as he had been silent during their whole conversation.

Takato leaned back in his seat, his eyes pensive as they starred at the ceiling of the van. "Maybe it has to do with the mysterious absence of any Wild Ones emerging in the last three weeks."

Silence.

Takato looked back Kenta and Kazu who were looking at them. "What?" Takato asked confused.

Kenta and Kazu exchanged glances. Takato sat up and asked again, "What??"

"Do you think we should tell him Kazu?" Kenta asked, his voice worried.

"Tell me what!?" Takato asked insistently; he was starting to get worried himself. Their glances made him uneasy, especially since he just had an odd dream...

And then his gut seemed to twist. Maybe he had some kind of disease that caused him to have weird dreams and pee weird stuff...

"Tell me!!" Takato cried loudly.

Kazu look solemn. "Takato, we believe you are infected with a disease that affects the mind mentally,"

Takato was mortified. _Oh no, _Takato thought worriedly. _I knew something was wrong! _"What brought you to that conclusion?" Takato asked, unable to keep his voice from trembling.

"Well, the fact that you actually had a good idea kind of tipped us off!" Kazu suddenly shouted, as both he and Kenta burst out laughing.

Takato sighed with relief. Then he suddenly realized that he had been insulted. "HEY!" He objected. "I have plenty of good ideas!"

His objections fell upon deaf ears as both Kenta and Kazu continued laughing. That was another aspect about them; despite Kazu's many jokes about Kenta, the two of them were a pair of jokers and comedians. Sighing, Takato starred out the window, annoyed that they had managed to pull one over him. Sure, they had done it so many times before, but it didn't make it less annoying.

Then Takato suddenly remembered what he had meant to tell Kazu and Kenta. How convenient for him to remember it when he needed a subject change. Reaching into his pocket Takato pulled out a post card.

Kenta spotted the movement. "What's that?" He asked, pointing at the post card, the laughter subsiding as curiosity took over.

"A post card from Henry," Takato said, handing over the card.

Kazu took the card before Kenta could and read it aloud, as Kenta looked over his shoulder;

**Hey guys,**

**I just got here a day ago and already Terrimon and I are having so much fun! This place is definitely one of the best places to go to! The air is warm, the water is great, the beaches are simply amazing. There's no doubt in my mind that I'm retiring here, and you guys should too! Now I gotta go, there are some pretty good looking girls here!**

**Wishing you were here,**

**Henry Wong.**

"What???" Kenta exclaimed. "What is he talking about? Where is he?"

Kazu flipped the card and both he and Kenta gasped; on there was a picture of a blue haired, brown-eyed boy of regular height. He was garbed in an orange vest that hung over a black shirt and donned brown pants above grey-and-yellow shoes. Henry had blue shades propped on his head and had two fingers extended in a peace sign. On his shoulder sat a curious bunny-looking Digimon (although Takato would say it looked more like a dog) with small green strips over his white fur. The Digimon's had one massive ear curled around Henry's head and the other raised up in a gesture of greeting. This was Henry Wong and Terrimon.

But it was not the odd sight of boy and Digimon possessing to the camera; that was normal to the Tamers. It was the words emblazoned in large black letters on the top of the card;

**HAWAII**

"HENRY'S IN HAWAII??" Kazu shouted, his visor falling off, before quieting down as Agent Royce snapped his head around at the sudden yelling. Even with his shades on, the Tamers could tell he was glaring at Kazu for disturbing the peace.

"Henry's in Hawaii?" Kazu asked, in a much softer tone to Takato. "When did this happen?"

"Last week of course!" Takato replied. Kazu and Kenta exchanged equally shocked glances. "You guys didn't know?"

"Well, we just thought he was sick and couldn't come to school," Kenta defended while Kazu bent down to grab his visor again. "I mean, come on, he didn't even tell us he was going to Hawaii!"

Takato blushed. "Heh heh," He chuckled sweat dropping. "I was suppose to tell you guys. I guess I kinda...forgot."

"Typical Takato!" Kazu exclaimed, throwing his visor at said offender. Takato yelped as it unexpectedly hit him in the head. "Always forgetting to tell us vital information, then blaming us for not remembering to remind him!"

Before Takato could reply, the van suddenly stopped. Agent Royce turned around in his chair and said, "We have arrived at Hypnos. Please make sure to take all your Digimon and belongings- and where the heck did that carpet come from?" Agent Royce suddenly asked, pointing his finger at the ground of the van.

The Tamers followed his finger...and realized he was pointing at Kenta's large scarf. Apparently he had mistaken it for a carpet. The Tamer's sweat dropped.

"Uhh...Gotta go!" Takato said, embarrassed, as he pulled open the van door and jumped out followed closely by Kazu and Kenta who mimicked him and said similarly poor excuses.

Agent Royce, alone in his van, sighed and smiled, dropping his stony agent appearance. "Heh...kids," He said fondly before backing his van up and out of the Hypnos II drop-off area.

* * *

Hypnos II was the pride of modern Japanese architecture. It stood erect, the base splitting into two massive towers that dwarfed the rest of the, ancient, traditional, small houses and buildings that made up the city. Spotted along measured and strategic intervals were platforms, built into the building itself. In these platforms stood powerful satellites, their positioning carefully placed to maximize the satellites potential. It was through these satellites that Hypnos II's famous super computer could analyze and compose the data that was known as the Digital World. 

Takato, followed by Kazu and Kenta, walked under one of these massive platforms, into the rear of Hypnos II. It was better go from the back of Hypnos II, as there an enormous amount of security that one had to go through in the front entrance. In fact, Kazu claimed that it took him nearly four hours to get to the Tamer's area of the building, and three hours and fifty minutes of it was spent getting through the security at the front entrance. Takato had never gone through the front, but knowing how paranoid Yamaki was, he wouldn't be surprise if Kazu's claim was true.

But there was another type of security that they would have to get through. As they left the parking lot and walked up the stairs to the back of the building, there was a single hallway that lay in front of them. At the end of the hallway there lay a single door, or more accurately, a single slab. There was no doorknob or keypad or lock or any other object that seemed readily available to open the door. It was simply a dark, black, block at the end of the hallway.

Takato approached the black "door". This door was made of a special material called Muteki, which was found only in the frozen corners of the artic. It was so extremely strong but brittle at the same time. However, if heated and melted together with rubber, it was made into an indestructible substance. It was not known how much this "door" made out of Muteki could stand before breaking, but it was estimated that it would take no less than a nuclear explosive detonated within ten feet of the blast before it would break. There was no chance of forcing one's way through it.

Luckily, Takato didn't need to force his way through, as a bright red light suddenly burst from the top of the door and scanned the approaching Tamers. The Tamers stopped as the light scanned them repeatedly for about a minute. Finally, the light turned off and a beeping sound could be heard. The door slide open and Takato, followed along by Kazu and Kenta, entered a large room.

The massive room was brightly lit and filled with all kinds of computers and lab equipment. A square pit, about the size of a basketball court, decorated the middle of it. Normally the room was filled with scientist, as this was one of the testing laboratories, but then again it was around two in the morning; most people would be sleeping at home now.

Sleep...Takato stifled a yawn; he was really tired and he had that stupid math test tomorrow. He wondered what could be so important that the government would need to wake them up at such an early time. Turning to the other two, he said, "Huh, looks like no one's here-"

**BOOM**

A loud explosion caused both the Tamers to jump. Smoke began pouring out from the pit that laid in the middle of the lab. Another loud explosion followed the first explosion a couple seconds later, along with another belch of large smoke.

Kazu reached the pit first and gave a cry of surprise. Takato quickly reached the pit and starred at what he was seeing.

At the bottom of the pit stood two digimon and two humans, one of each kind on either side. On the right hand side a Digimon that appeared to be made out of rock. Yellow eyes glowed from the Digimon's humanoid form, as the starred at the opposite end. Two rocks were on the left hand side, smashed into the ground with smoke coming from them. They were obviously the source of the explosion.

Behind this rock Digimon stood a young boy with spiky brown hair. He wore a yellow T-Shirt, covered by a blue jacket slightly large than him. He wore blue and black khaki shorts, with white tennis shoes decorated with red strips on his feet. His face was long, similar to that of Kazu's face, and wore a worried expression.

On the left hand side, stood a blue, dog-like Digimon, with white fur decorating his stomach, snout and feet. Unlike human dogs, this Digmon stood on two feet, holding at about three feet. He also wore a red bandana along with red boxing gloves.

Behind the dog-like Digimon stood a teenage girl garbed in a yellow shirt and yellow dress. Her brown hair was arranged in the Chinese style of Ox-horns , like those of Queen Serenity from a TV Series that Takato had seen (but at the moment couldn't remember the name), the buns falling down to the middle of her back. Her smile seemed innocent, but gave Takato the feeling of danger when he saw it. She was quite beautiful, but it was a kind of...dangerous beauty. Takato didn't know why he thought that, but it was as if he had seen that kind of smile before...

"They're Tamers!" Kazu exclaimed, as Takato realized both teenagers were holding D-Arcs in one hand, and a pile of card in the other.

"But why are they fighting?" Takato asked; the only Tamer fights he had seen were at the beginning when he first got Guilmon; and that was before when Rika thought Digimon were useful only for fighting.

"Maybe they're just letting off some steam," Kazu commented sounding bored. Takato glanced over and realized Kazu wasn't even looking at the Digimon. In fact, he seemed to be focusing on a specific point in the point. Following his gaze, Takato realized he was starring at the girl with the innocent, but odd, smile.

"That's part of the reason, but not why they're fighting Kazu," A female voice suddenly said from behind the Tamers.

Spinning around, a slightly pale, teenage girl starred at them with brown eyes. She wore a pretty green dress over a yellow shirt coupled with dress shoes at her feet. A single, small brown ponytail split from the front of her hair, over her face. Along with a happy smile on her face and eyes that seemed to radiate brilliance, this girl gave off an aura of happiness to those around her.

"Jeri!" Takato greeted, waving to her. Indeed it was Jeri Katou, Tamer of the digimon Leomon who had met his untimely demise in the Digital World, when the Tamers had ventured to save Culumon from the clutches of the Devas. The depression caused by his death and the guilt of not being a strong enough Tamer for Leomon, Jeri had in turn fallen victim to the evil schemes of the D-Reaper. The powerful entity had imprisoned her and used her memories and voice to assault the Real World. Although she was saved by Takato and eventually broke out of her depression, aiding the destruction of the D-Reaper, she hadn't returned to the way she use to be. The Jeri the Tamers knew and love was always happy and could make anyone around her happy and optimistic. Yet while she was not depressed, she was still tired and unhappy; she had seen so much in the D-Reaper, seen so much pain, seen her Digimon partner crumble before her very eyes at the hands of a much stronger Digimon while trying to protect others. She had seemed...broken.

And then the call for new Tamers had arisen from Hypnos II. More Tamers were needed to battle the oncoming of Wild Ones. As every human had **_Teimāzu, _**the power that made a person a Tamer, all the goverment needed was to have children, more accurately teenagers, volunteer for the program and select the ones that pass the screening exam. A simple, elegant plan that suddenly failed as the government realized that they had no one to teach the children how to access their power. The current Tamers were too busy fighting Wild Ones or juggling their own life and education to take on the course of teaching the new Tamers. There was also no guarantee either that the Tamers could even teach the other children how to access their **_Teimāzu._**

It was then Jeri had stepped up the plate. Although she had no Digimon partner, she knew how to access her own **_Teimāzu. _**She was experienced in Digimon combat, being one of the Tamers who actually ventured into the Digital World itself and witnessed the final battle against the D-Reaper. She was perfect for the job.

And so Jeri had moved back to Shinjuku to live in Hypnos II. Her family, especially her father, hadn't been happy with it; she was moving away from them into the dangers of Digital fighting. But then her father realized Jeri was emerging from her letargy. She was starting to become active again, to talk again, to be...happy. Jeri now had a purpose, now had a place where she could live out her own destiny. Her father had consented, allowing her to return to Shinjuku to help the other Tamers. There was only one worry left, one the government had; Jeri no longer had a Digimon partner; in fact her Digimon partner had actually died. What if the new Tamers did not pay attention or respect her? What if they looked down her and did not accept her as their teacher.

Perhaps it was the fact that Jeri had learned from Rika herself how to fight. Perhaps it was the fact she had witnessed so many Digimon fights, seeing even Ryo, considered the greatest Tamer, perhaps greater than Rika, fight against the enemy. Or maybe it was the fact that her supposed "weakness", her lack of Digimon, the event of actually losing her Digimon, was what made her powerful.

Whatever the reason, Jeri was an amazing teacher and Tamer. Her ability to access her **_Teimāzu _**rivaled even Rika and Ryo's abilities, and she did not even have a Digimon to give her the incentive to help. Along with her cheerful and happy nature and her uncanny ability to help others easily access their own **_Teimāzu_**, Jeri quickly became the most respected Tamer of Hypnos II, even more than the main Tamers who still had their Digimon, so much that the new Tamers began calling her Jeri the Sugoi-Jeri the Amazing. All the new Tamers respected her and saw her as the best Tamer, the teacher of all other Tamers.

But Takato wasn't thinking of that now as Jeri approached them, smiling. He noted that she was no longer as pale as she use to be; she seemed to be gaining muscle mass. She actually seemed happier than last time he had seen her, and her beauty only increased with her smile.

"Hey Takato, Kazu, Kenta," She greeted them. "How are you guys doing?"

"We're doing fine," Kenta said, pushing his glasses up and placing the sleeping MarineAngemon in his other hand. "But what's up with those two fighting?" He gestured to the pit.

"Oh," Jeri said, a little less brightly. "The government, to train the new Tamers in Digimon fighting, has decided to have the new Tamers have sparring matches. I don't really approve, but then again its better they train with each other, where they know they won't die, then against a Wild One." She smiled sadly. "This way, we can make sure the Tamers are prepared before they entered dangerous situations."

There was an awkward silence. They all remembered how, right before they entered the Digital World, they had been so worried about school and their parents. They hadn't stopped to actually think about how dangerous the world they were entering was. They had been foolish and naive, barely surviving most of the dangers presented in that world, and in one case, losing one of their friends...

"But why are they fighting in two in the morning?" Kazu asked, in attempt to change from the awkward subject.

It succeeded, as Jeri smiled happily again. She pointed at the boy and said, in the voice used by proud teachers or parents when they talk about their children, "That boy right there is Dario, a thirteen-year-old boy that entered the Tamer program about two months ago. His partner, Gotsumon," She pointed at the rock-like Digimon in front of him, "Was found only a week later. They're a great pair; they get into fights easily but always make up a couple minutes later. He's a sweet kid though can be a bit naive at times."

Jeri then pointed over at the ox-horned girl with the blue dog-like Digimon. "That girl over there is Kimiko Leiko. She's sixteen years old and Japanese, though until about a month ago, she lived in the United States with her father. She's extremely fit and an amazing martial artist. Her partner Gaomon," She gestured to the blue, dog-like Digimon. "Was found the same day she came into the Tamer program. Very unusual; it often takes weeks before partner and Tamer are joined. Actually," Jeri lowered her voice a bit. "She's the best Tamer of all the new Tamers. She's already won this fight."

It was at these words Takato realized why that smile was so familiar. He had indeed seen that smile before, but on the face of another person. He had seen it on the face of Rika.

Right before she completely trashed another person in a fight.

* * *

Dario was nervous. Kimiko was an intimidating figure; she was three years older than him and a capable martial artist and Digimon Tamer. She was also very beautiful, and Dari was thirteen, the age where boys begin hitting puberty... 

As if to make matter worst, there were other kids watching them now. Dario didn't recognize any of the kids and he had met all the new Tamers (there were about fifty, but only about ten had gotten Digimon partners). They obviously knew Jeri the Sugoi, as she had greeted them cheerfully and engaged in conversation with them.

Great. Important people watching him screw up.

_No!_ Dario shouted silently to himself. _You can't think like that. Gotta think positive. I can win!" _

If that was even possible. Gotsumon had his strongest attack, Crazy Crusher, a massive rock that could crush almost anything in its way, twice. Both rocks could easily destroy Gaomon...but he had dodged, nah just stepped over once and caused both to miss. Gotsumon was strong, but Dario had a feeling that his strength wasn't going to make much of a difference...

* * *

Kimiko Leiko watched the kids watching them from the top of the pit. So those were the legendary Tamers, the ones that had taken on the D-Reaper entity themselves! To learn from them would be a great honor. But before she could ask she had to show them how good she was. 

She ran her right fingers through her right ox horn braid. "Finrak," She said softly, calling Gaomon by his nickname.

Finrak's ears immediately uncurled and stood to attention. Kimiko voice was beautiful, like a chorus singer's sweet voice. Finrak had never met any of the angels in the Digital World, but when he had heard Kimiko's voice, he knew they could be no more beautiful than hers. He was very lucky; she was beautiful, strong, and smart; the perfect Tamer.

"Yes madam?" He replied, just as soft. His voice contrasted Kimiko's beautiful voice with its gruff, almost feral, animalistic voice.

"I am sure you have noticed the teenagers watching us." She paused as Finrak nodded his confirmation. "Well, those teenagers are Tamers also. The main Tamers. The Tamers that defeated the D-Reaper itself. Wouldn't it be amazing if they could teach us along with Jeri the Sugoi?"

_It would be amazing if I could continued serving under you as your partner_, Finrak thought. Verbally, Finrak voiced his confirmation. "It would madam."

Kimiko's smile widened. "Then they'll need to see our skill and power. Do you understand?"

Finrak also smiled. His smile was feral, showing his sharp fangs; a contrast to the innocent looking smile Kimiko possessed. "As always Madam."

And Finrak launched into the attack, his sharp fangs reflecting the light as he charged Gotsumon.

Gotsumon reacted instantly and placed his hands above his head, in the style of the Genkai-Dama in another Universe. "CRAZY CRUSHER".

A massive rock of epic proportions spawned at the top of his hands. It dwarfed both Gotsumon and Finrak, and as Gotsumon threw it with ease, it moved quickly, covering Finrak in darkness as he stopped and calmly looked up at it.

And then right before it fell, he suddenly sprinted over to the right and easily cleared the rock as it smashed into the ground.

**BOOM**

Another loud explosion graced the room, as the massive rock created another large crater and smashed into hundreds of small pieces like shrapnel. While Gotsumon simply stood and ignored the hundreds of small pieces smashing into his rock body, Finrak blurred as he seemed to dance, ducking, jumping, and weaving through the millions of pieces.

And then Gotsumon was suddenly there as he roared "HARDEST PUNCH" and smashed his fist at Finrak.

There was another loud bang as Gotsumon smashed...ground?

Indeed, his fist had created a small creator in the ground where Finrak stood. Gotsumon looked around confused and then suddenly realized Finrak was standing right behind him looking at his back.

_Holy Crap_, Gotsumon thought. _He dodged both my shrapnel AND my punch at the same time. How fast is this guy?_

Finrak grinned his dangerous scary grin again and then yawned, as if this fight wasn't even worth being awake for.

Gotsumon eyes narrowed. "What are you yawning at? You're leaving yourself exposed."

"Why the hell should I care?" Finrak jeered. "You're too damn slow to land a hit on me."

Gotsumon's gave out a loud growl of anger. "ROCK FIST!" He screamed throwing his hand out in front of him.

Finrak tensed, expecting him to charge and attack him with his fist, as his attack name denoted. But Gotsumon simply stood there, as Finrak raised an eyebrow...

And then hundred of small rocks suddenly shot from his head, as Finrak jumped in surprise, re-entering his dance, as he dodged and weaved again.

"EARTH SHAKER!" Gotsumon shouted again, as he smashed his fist into the ground.

The ground shook, and Finrak nearly got hit twice as he lost his balance. Growling, Finrak smashed his boxing glove into the ground and propelled himself up from the shaking ground, spinning through the air...

And then he heard another shout.

"CRAZY CRUSHER!"

Another massive rock spawned above Finrak's spinning body, as he landed on the ground, this twenty foot rock barely three feet away from him...

And then time seemed to slow as Finrak gave another large grin. Three feet was plenty of time for him to dodge this rock. But then again, his madam Kimiko had asked him to impress the other Tamers.

So instead of dodging he gathered his energy, taking off his boxing gloves, revealing sharp claws.

"Gao Rush."

And his claws blurred as he seemed to make a series of complicated movements with his hands as the rock continued falling, almost close enough to make him a pancake.

And then he stopped and held his hand out, as if thinking he had enough strength to stop the falling twenty foot rock.

_What the heck is he doing?_ Gotsumon cried out mentally. _He's going to get himself killed! The rock is way too heavy!"_

And then the rock hit Finrak's hand...and abruptly exploded and shattered into small little pieces.

Over at the sidelines, Dario's mouth fell open as he said, "What the heck? That's impossible!"

Kimiko simply smiled. Finrak really was showing off today. Although none of them could see it, Finrak's blurred hand movements were actually him slicing up the massive rock into little small pieces, causing it to seemingly break when it hit Finrak's hand, when in reality it actually broke about a second before it contacted Finrak's hand. But then why spoil the moment? Finrak already had this fight won anyway.

Finrak certainly thought so too as he smiled, feeling Kimiko's happiness through their connection in the **_Teimāzu. _**He had made the mistress proud. Good, now to clean up this-

Finrak's thoughts were interrupted as he felt the wind behind blow slightly. He immediately jumped to the left.

And it was almost too late, as Gotsumon's kick nearly smashed into his back. Instead it merely smashed the ground, cracking it and adding another hole to the many holes already in the battlefield.

"Do you have eyes on the back of your eyes or something?" Gotsumon exclaimed, incredulous, as he extracted his foot from the ground and glared at Finrak.

Finrak shook his head, as he placed his boxing gloves on again. "Of course not. You're simply too damn slow and weak to defeat me." While Gotsumon's mouth dropped open at his complete bluntness, he looked over at his opponent's Tamer; Dario. "Your weak Tamer and you should drop out before I really beat the shit out of you. And trust me, I haven't been serious yet until now."

Dario's mouth also fell open in shock. He was bluffing wasn't he? He couldn't possibly be faster than he was now! God, even now he was just too fast for Gotsumon. Gotsumon had the strength but he just didn't have the speed...

And then Dario remembered he was a Tamer. He looked down at his left hand and quickly pulled out a Hyperspeed modify card and looked at it. _Oh no..._ Dario mentally cried. _This Hyperspeed modify card still won't be enough. But I don't have anything to make him faster! What can I do? Maybe I should just give up and save myself the embarrassment of losing._

**_NO! _**Another voice shoutted in his head.

Dario snapped his head up. _Gotsumon?_

**_Yes. Your despair has caused you to access your _**Teimāzu**_ and create a communications connection with me._**

_I didn't know I could do that._

**_Neither can I. But it doesn't matter. Remember what Jeri the Sugoi said yesterday?_**

Dario thought back to yesterday's lesson as Jeri's voice seemed to play in its head...

* * *

**Yesterday...**

But what's the point of Digimon Tamers if its just whoever the stronger Digimon is?" Asked one of the younger Tamers, who still had not gotten his partner yet.

Dario watched as Jeri smiled. They had been talking about the Digital World and how "Survival of the Fittest" was the only law in that world. "Well, we Digimon Tamers can help our Digimon digivolve and make them stronger."

"But then what's the point of using Digi-modify cards if we can just digivolve our Digimon?" Asked another student.

"Well, when you have two relatively equal strength Digimon, which will occur often, or you need a certain power for a unique situation, you will need your Digi-Modify cards," Jeri said, her expression pensive. "However, since Digimon can only handle so many digital modifications at one time, you will need to be choose what card you use very carefully."

"How do we know which one to use though?" Dario surprised himself by asking the question. He normally wasn't the one to interact much in class.

"Well that's something you learn from experience Dario," Jeri told him. "All I can tell you is to know your own partner's strengths and weaknesses. With their weaknesses, you can fix them with your modify cards. With their strengths, you can find out what type of cards you can use."

* * *

Dario snapped back to reality. _Play to their strengths, play to their weaknesses. What cards do I have that can fix Gotsumon's weakness of being slow and what type of cards of available to me because he has so much strength?_

And then Dario realized the answer. It was so simple, that he couldn't understand why he hadn't thought of it before.

**_Do you have a plan Dario? _**Gotsumon inquired.

Dario ignored his question. _Are you ready to fight Gotsumon?_

**_I am. I am ready to fight as long as you are ready to aid me._** Gotsumon's reply was instant.

"Then let's do this!" Dario shouted, drawing his Hyperspeed modify card.

Kimiko's eyebrow rose at the seemingly sudden outburst, but zeroed in on the card Dario was holding. It was a Hyperspeed modify card.

"I can see what you're thinking Dario, but that won't help you at all. Finrak is still too fast for you," She scoffed, grinning wide.

Her grin slightly faded as Dario was also smiling. _Maybe he did have a plan?_

And from above, Jeri leaned a bit closer. Dario was deffinetly planning something, that could be easily gleaned from his sudden change in body language. But what could he be planning? What could he have that could give him the advantage?

And Dario slowly held up the Hyperspeed modify card for all to see. His grinned remained as he said loudly, "You're right Kimiko. One Hyperspeed modify card isn't enough for Gotsumon to catch up to Finrak." Then his fingers twisted to reveal a second card behind the first. "That's why I'm using two!"

And in front of everyone's shocked expressions, Dario held up his D-Arc and shouted, "Digimodify! Double Hyperspeed modify cards activate!"

Thunder could be heard, as lightning burst from the Dario's D-Arc and smashed into Gotsumon's body. He growled and screamed in pain, as the lightning burst around him. The pain was terrible; Dario could feel it through his **_Teimāzu. _**But he already knew the worst was over. Gotsumon could handle it.

* * *

Up top, Kazu shouted, "What the heck!? Is he crazy? The strain from two digimodify cards will kill his Digimon!" 

Kenta turned to Jeri, "Aren't you going to stop them?"

Jeri shook her head. "The pain is terrible, yes. But Dario is smart; he's playing to Gotsumon's strengths while fixing his weaknesses. For Gotsumon is strength is his raw power and toughness. His body can handle pain much better than other Digimon. Also," Jeri pointed at the lightning arcing around Gotsumon's body. "While one hyperspeed modify card creates adrenaline, two modify cards utilize the power and speed of lightning itself. Gotsumon is one of the few Digimon that can handle that power because his body; while other Digimon would be fried, Gotsumon's body is completely made out of rock. And any kid can tell you that rock is a terrible conductor for lightning."

Takato looked at Jeri with a mixture of pride and respect. "Wow Jeri; you really are truly amazing. Now I understand why the new Tamers call you Jeri the Sugoi."

Jeri blushed fiercely as the other Tamers voiced their consent. "Thank you Takato," She stammered. Then her eyes narrowed as she looked at the fight again. "But I fear that it may not be enough."

"What??" Kazu exclaimed. "You said he's harnessing the speed of lightning itself!"

"Yes," Jeri nodded. "Yes, I did. But Finrak wasn't lying when he said he was holding back. And I fear that Kimiko is the only one who has any control over him. If she gets angry..."

Takato could only stare at the blue, dog-like Gaomon. He had already displayed alarming speed. Could he possibly be faster than he was now?

* * *

Down below, the fighters were ignorant to the drama unfolding at top concerning them. They had eyes only for each other. 

Finrak was on guard now. He had not seen the effects of two Hyperspeed modify cards, but from the crackling of lightning around Gotsumon, he was sure it wasn't simply special affects. He had to be careful.

Gotsumon, on the other hand, knew he had to end this quickly. Although he was one of the few Digimon that could handle a double Hyperspeed modify, it didn't mean that it didn't hurt like hell. He glared at Finrak and rasped out through his pain, "And now...we shall see who is faster."

If Finrak hadn't immediately started moving when Gotsumon had began his taunt, he would have been completely smashed. In the split seconds from after Gotsumon finished and Finrak was moving through the air, Gotsumon covered about a quarter of a mile in an instant. His kick missed, but the sheer velocity threw Finrak into the opposing wall. Groaning, he slowly pushed himself up.

Gotsumon looked down at Finrak as he pushed himself up. "I guess you can dish it out, but can't handle it, eh?" Gotsumon taunted, the electricity coursing through him like he was Gohan in SSJ2.

Finrak ignored him as he looked up Kimiko. She had cut the connection that caused them to share pain, as she glared down at him. Finrak shuffled embarrassed; he was failing his mistress! He had never been hurt before, so she never had a reason to cut the connection. How shameful...

Finrak growled, his anger covering up his shamefulness. How dare this rock creature cause his mistress to look at him like that? He would pay!

Finrak turned into a blur as he launched himself at the electrified Gotsumon. "ROLLING UPPER!" He roared, jumping at his opponent.

And then threw up blood as Gotsumon smashed the ground before Finrak could reach him. The mere shockwave itself smashed into Finrak like a sledgehammer and threw him up against the wall again. He coughed up more blood as he shook in fear. Gotsumon could have hit him if he liked, but instead he had chosen to simply hit the ground. The shockwave itself had completely trashed him.

"You really should give up now," Gotsumon rasped out again, as he slowly walked up to Finrak, his lightning flaring up with each step.

Finrak tried to push himself up, but fell over. He was hurt bad from that shockwave. As much as he hated to admit it, Gotsumon was right; he should give up.

_Disgusting..._

Finrak started. That thought wasn't his. It was his mistress; he could hear some of her thoughts through the connection that still existed between them! He looked up at his mistress Kimiko and then nearly cried out.

She wasn't even looking at him, instead looking at her fingernails. He knew why too...he was too disgusting to looking. Too pitiful to watch. Too weak for someone as powerful as her...

Gotsumon walked up to Finrak; he seemed to be looking at his Tamer. He glanced over at Kimko and realized she wasn't even looking. Gotsumon looked back down at Finrak and said, "See? Even your Tamer thinks you should give up." Gotsumon said this to stop Finrak from fighting.

BIG mistake.

Finrak's pupils dilated. It was because of this rock abomination that his mistress was too disgusted to look at him! This beast, this disgusting little thing would pay. HE WOULD PAY!

And gone was the Digimon. Arise the true wolf.

"I'm...going...to kill you..." Finrak whispered through his pain at Gotsumon.

"Good luck with that," Gotsumon said, raising his hand up. He would just hit him lightly, to knock him out...

And then he saw Finrak's eyes as Finrak lifted his head. They were no longer yellow-black. They were a dark red. A feral red. Eyes of the beast.

"Wha...?" Was all Gotsumon could say before it happened.

* * *

As both Kimiko and Jeri had said, Finrak was holding back. But while Jeri had an inkling, Kimiko and even Finrak himself did not know how much power he had in reserve. 

**BANG**

And it was unleashed as Finrak howled in rage. Gotsumon, even with his double Hyperspeed modification, didn't even see Finrak move. All he knew was pain as he flew through the air, Finrak delivering a punch so hard and fast, a large sonic boom occured. But the thought was lost to Gotsumon as Finrak ran up to Gotsumon's flying body and smashed in to the ground.

There was no blood in Gotsumon's rock body, but there was in Dario's, as blood exploded from his mouth and eyes. The attacks had been so fast, he barely had anytime to cut off the pain connection with Gotsumon before Finrak began his assault.

While Gotsumon was still laying on the ground, Finrak jumped on top of him and looked straight into Gotsumon's barely stirring pupils. He leaned closely and growled, "Don't worry about the pain. I doubt you'll remember this...if you remember anything."

And then Finrak's arms glowed with blue power as he said softely, "Gao Rush," and proceeded to unleash on Gotsumon's face.

Bits of rocks flew from Gotsumon's head as Finrak repeatedly smashed his boxing-gloved fist into his face. In three seconds, Finrak landed 1067 punches into his face. Even though Gotsumon rock body was tough, nothing could stand a barrage like that. Normally, one's hands would be turned into mush, but Finrak's gloves protected his hands and he was in a muderous rage mode; he didn't even registered that his hands were hurting as he continued to smash Gotsumon's head into the ground.

"ENOUGH!" Jeri shouted, but Finrak continued smashing his fist into Gotsumon's face. Jeri turned to Kimiko, who was watching the scene with that innocent grin she had. "KIMIKO!" She shouted.

Kimiko jumped; Jeri the Sugoi almost never shouted unless she was extremely angry. "Enough Finrak." She said, in a normal tone.

Finrak immediately ceased his attacks, as he got up from Gotsumon's body. Gotsumon had long ceased conciousness, and his face was missing large chunks from which Finrak had smashed the pieces off. Finrak bowed, replying, "As you wish Madam."

Takato's face was in shock; such brutality, and it was against another Tamer's Digimon. He turned to Jeri to object to such violent measures but suddenly realized she was no longer standing with the main Tamers. She hit a button on one of the control panels, causing the floor of the pit to slowly move up to ground level. Ignoring Dario's cries as he jumped down onto the raising platform and held his partner's hurt body in his arms, she walked straight to Kimiko.

"What. The. Hell," Jeri hissed, her voice angry.

Despite the fact that Kimiko was two years older and a renown martial artist, she cringed at Jeri's anger. "Jeri the Sugoi," She said, her musical voice apologetic and worried. "Please accept my-"

"I don't give a damn about you're apologies!" Jeri shouted, "What I'm going to do is-"

Luckily, no one got to hear what Jeri was going to do to, as a door slide open on the opposite side. The familiar, tuxedo-garbed, brown-haired shape of Mitsuo Yamaki stepped out. He walked up and said calmly, "That will be enough Miss. Katuo. The time for disciplinary action is not now. The meeting is about to begin."

_Oh yeah. The meeting that called us here._ Takato had forgotten why they had come out to Hypnos II at two in the morning. The brutal mauling of Gotsumon had driven the thought out of his head.

"Paramedics have already been called," Yamaki continued, directing the comment to Dario. "However, if the Main Tamers could please follow me so we can begin the meeting, it would be greatly appreciated."

With that Yamaki turned around and headed back through the door that had opened. Jeri gave one last glare at Kimiko, before following Yamaki. Kazu and Kenta followed her with an air of one eager to leave the scene. Takato followed suit but stopped for a second and looked at the crying Dario and the hurt Gotsumon. _Is this the new team that we're training?_ Takato thought, his expression unreadable, as he turned around and went through the doorway, the door sliding close behind him.

* * *

Kimiko watched the retreating boy's back as he walked through the door. So those WERE the legendary main Tamers as she thought. She wondered if she had impressed them or not. 

Speaking about impressions...here came Finrak.

"Well?" She inquired. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Finrak blinked as he bowed and starred at the ground. "There is nothing I can say except express my most sincere-"

"I don't give a damn about your apologies!" Kimiko shouted, unintentionally echoing Jeri. She sighed as Finrak continued starring at the ground, his shame so great, she could feel it through their connection despite the fact that she had closed most of it so she wouldn't feel his pain. She sighed and pulled a towel out of her pocket, throwing it at Finrak. "Wipe that blood off," She commanded, turning around and walking away. "We have some training to do,"

Finrak obliged, wiping the blood off and following Kimiko. _Phew,_ He thought to himself. _The mistress wasn't completely angry at him, just disappointed. _Counting himself lucky this time, Finrak swore never to put himself in this situation again. He would need to train harder, so he could be worthy of his mistresses pride. And he would be. Even if it was the last thing he did.

But as Finrak and Kimiko left, neither of them bothered to give a hand or offer apologies to the crying boy with the Gotsumon, as paramedics came in and began administering medical aid. They did not care.

* * *

"Are you ready master?" Said a small voice. 

"**Soon**," The Voice replied. "**Summon him to my chambers when he awakens.**"

"Yes master," The small voice replied, and the pattering of feet could be heard as the bearer of the small voice ran off to do his master's bidding.

"**Soon...**" The Voice said to himself. "**Very soon.**"


	3. Military Tribunal

Disclaimer: I do not not own Digimon

(A/N: Sorry about the taking so long with this chapter, I was in Malaysia last week visiting relatives; very boring. Oh well, I'm back now and writing again!)

Chapter 3: Military Tribunal

"No punishment of the unrighteous has ever been too severe in the eyes of the righteous." -Unknown Author

The building was normally impenetrable to outside forces, yet history has shown that so called "impenetrable" forces are never infallible. Systems built to keep all out would always have a weakness that could be exploited in some way or another. Should there be no weakness, then one would be created. No man is an island.

On this occasion, however, there was no need to exploit or create a weakness. A team of men moved outside the building towards a dark doorway with no apparent means of access. Their white shirts bore large red crosses, the symbol of medical service, upon their backs. Upon the front, the letters **Hypnos II **was emblazoned, sitting beneath a smaller red cross badge. They moved with haste and purpose, their service obviously called upon and needed.

Normally these men, Hypnos II Medical Officers, traveled to the area they were needed by the "Flying Carpet", a system of carts strung around the interior of **Hypnos II** that allowed employees to travel through the vast building, and reach their destination in seconds. However, said system was currently down for maintenance; it was important that the system remain properly functional, and as it was two in the morning, one would safely assume that the system would not be needed. This, unfortunately, meant that when the call for emergency was dispatched, the officers were required to exit the building, board a vehicle, and move around to the back entrance to access the wounded. What normally would take seconds, now took agonizing minutes.

Yet the extra time was only minimal, and infinitesimal compared to the larger problem created. As they had to move through the outside of the building, the Hypnos II Medical Team was required to create an opening in the impenetrable building. This moment of opening would allow entrance not only to the Medical Team, but also to any other outside forces.

A weakness.

The door scanned the team and finding them of proper authorization, it opened…

And the caps of the team flew off as the wind blew past them.

The breeze was annoyed. It had congested itself to blow at its full might. So powerful it was that it could pulled the very tops off of the humans. Yet this team made no inclination or recognition of its great might.

No matter; their focus to save a life could not be broken. The wind continued on through into a vast room. Vast…but nothing for its awesome might as it traveled across to the open door at the other end. A large, black suited human was moving to close the door. The wind pushed itself harder, congesting and picking up speed as the door almost closed…

* * *

Kazu grabbed his hat as a sudden gust blew it off. He turned around and saw the door close. "Weird breeze," He commented, placing his hat back upon his head. 

Takato shrugged, pushing his hair back into position as he looked around at the meeting room. It was normally brightly lit, allowing those inside it to see every little detail. It was a large circular room, smaller than the room they had just exited, but none the less massive in proportions. While previous room were created of a mundane steel, this room was composed of deep, brown oak; in fact, if one were to fill the room with books, it would look more like a study than a meet room. However, instead of books, rows of chairs circled around the room, filling up the vast majority of it. Takato had never seen the room filled before, but he had been told that there were many instances in which there were not enough chairs for everyone to sit in. A request was already being considered to expand the room…but as it did not concern safety or Digimon, it was doubtful the request would go anywhere.

At the moment, however, all the lights were off except for those in the middle of the room, drawing the eye to it. The middle of the room was a large clearing, with two massive tables of differing sizes on either side. The larger of the two tables was barely lit; a single red infrared lit fell upon it. This was the table for the Hypnos Council Members. Takato only knew that it was Rook wood brown and that three massive chairs sat behind it because he had seen it before, when the room was brightly lit. The face of Yamaki disappeared under the veil of darkness as he traveled behind the table and sat with two other individuals. Takato could not make out the facial features; the light was too bright on his side and too dark upon the other side. He suspected that the lights were set that way on purpose…

The rest of the lights were focused upon the smaller of the two tables, a mahogany brown desk. Seven smaller chairs stood behind the desk, a small stack of papers in front of each of them. This was where the seven main Tamers sat from left to right; Rika, Takato, Henry, Jeri, Kazu, Kenta and Ryo. Kazu, Kenta and Jeri were already sitting at their seats, though while Kazu and Kenta immediately struck conversation, Jeri began reading the papers in front of each Tamer. The seats for Henry and Ryo were left empty; Henry was, as mentioned before, vacationing in Hawaii. Ryo was also out of the country; he was visiting his relatives in China with his father.

Takato moved toward his allotted seat. Rika was already sitting at her seat, her legs crossed as she leaned on the table, her chin resting on her hand. Her lavender eyes were narrow as Rika glared at a spot in the ceiling, as the spot had offended her in some way. She obviously angry at something, but that was no surprise; Rika was often angry.

As Takato moved closer, he realized how much that Rika was more angry than she normally was. Her breath came deeply from her nose, as if she was trying to calm herself down from whatever aggravated her. Her chest moved in and out with every breath, the tight shirt accenting her body, which was starting to gain some well defined curves; Rika clearly had been working out. Her legs could easily be seen, as her jeans were taut from the wrapping of her legs. Takato wondered what it would feel like to run his hand up her legs AND WHAT THE HELL WAS HE THINKING?

A tightness in Takato's pants brought him back to reality. Takato shook his head; what was wrong with him? First that weird dream, now this? His movements were now extremely awkward, as his legs were restricted by the bloating of his private parts and his face seemed to burned despite the cool air around him. In fact, his whole body seemed to be on fire, as if ignorant to the well ventilated air around him.

Rika raised an eyebrow as Takato suddenly flushed red and walked/ran to his chair. Her eyes followed him as he almost jumped into his chair and pulled it close to the table so that everything under his waist was hidden underneath the shadow of it. Takato gave a weak smile and nervous chuckle as he saw Rika starring at him.

"Uhh…Hey Rika!" Takato said, his voice cracking as he waved.

Rika only raised her eyebrow higher as she observed this odd display. _What's up with Takato?_ She thought mentally. Then she shrugged and resumed glaring at the ceiling. _Boys._

Takato let out a sigh of relief. _What the heck is wrong with me?_ He shook his head. It was probably because it was too early in the morning. He looked down at the papers before him; at every meeting, there was always a report, often written by Jeri. These reports were, in theory, to be read before the meeting began.

This time around there was only one report; which was an understatement. Book was the more accurate term. **Tamers Progress Report** was the title of the top sheet, with the words, **Reported by Jeri Katou** underneath it. It was a thick packet of papers, at least fifty pages, obviously filled with information and statistics about the new Tamers. Takato opened up to a random page and saw graphs and long paragraphs dictating information concerning the Tamers. Jeri Katou was meticulous in her work.

_Click. Clack._

The sound of a cigarette lighter being flipped open and closed seemed to slice through the air, gaining the attention of all in the room and silencing Kazu and Kenta's conversation. Rika ceased her ceiling glare, refocusing her attention. Jeri closed the packet she was reading; amusingly, the only one who had followed correct procedures and read the packet was the one who had written it, and therefore was not required to read it. But then again, who else would be so dedicated as to be awake at two in the morning, supervising fights, or meticulous enough to detail over fifty pages of information upon the new Tamers?

_Only Jeri_, Takato thought to himself, as he too closed the packet (which he had not read, just glanced at), and refocused his attention upon the figure at the right; Mitsuo Yamaki, bearer of the silver cigarette lighter. Although Yamaki was not the official head of Hypnos II, he was the one who ran the entire program, essentially making him the "runner of the club" as Kazu often put it. Takato did not know anyone more qualified for the job; yes, Yamaki and the Tamers had clashed in their methods of defeating Wild Digimon. This was unfortunate. However, Yamaki had demonstrated that he could learn from his mistakes, later proving to be an incredibly useful source in helping the Tamers defea the D-Reaper, and later, forming the current Tamer Solution. Combined with his experience from running the first Hypnos and vast intelligence, he was perfect for the job.

Yamaki's silver lighter flashed, reflecting the weak light as he flicked it open and closed again. "Are you ready?" He asked, seemingly to no one.

A chorus of various affirmatives echoed from behind Takato, inside the shadows. Along with these affirmatives, the sounds of readjusting chairs and shifting equipment could be heard. Takato suddenly remembered that all meetings were recorded and typed to be filed and checked if needed. The more important the meeting, the more recorders to decrease the chance of error. And from the cacophony of noise behind them…

Takato gulped. What was going on?

* * *

"Are those of the board ready?" Yamaki asked, and Rika could barely discern him turning to the other members sitting at the table 

"Indeed." A loud, gruff, voice replied. Rika snapped her head to the source of the voice, the figure in the middle, its voice revealing the figure to be a man. Rika couldn't see the man due to the dim lightning, but it did not matter; she could recognize his gruff voice and tough demeanor anywhere.

Roiyaru Fanatikku. If Yamaki was the club owner, as Kazu once put it, then Fanatikku could only be the bouncer; and he fit the role. He was a massive man, around six feet of muscle that barely seemed to be contained by his tuxedo suit. His huge hands looked like they were made out of iron with a grip to match and it was an accurate image; he had demonstrated to Rika by crushing a fully grown watermelon. His cleanly shaved face only accented his thick Italian-Japanese features and two deep scars across his right cheek. His sharp black eyes contained an intensity that Rika had only seen with one other person who wasn't even human; Renamon. In a country where the average height is around five and half feet, he struck an intimidating pose that warned all to stay away from him.

Or so it seemed. Despite his frightening demeanor, Rika had discovered he was a fine gentleman and extremely chivalrous. While his no-nonsense manner, his fighting demeanor, and the fact that he handled punishment, had caused the other Tamers to keep away from him, Rika was different. These traits had, oddly enough, attracted her and reminded her of someone she once knew, but couldn't remember. She had approached him and actually befriended him.

It was these thoughts that empowered her to nod slightly in his direction. It was a small nod, barely perceptible, but it did not escape the sharp eye of Fanatikku; his return nod was equally short but also did not escape the eye of Rika, who smiled. Perhaps this meeting would not be as bad as she thought…

* * *

_I wonder what she's smiling about?_

Takato mentally slapped himself. There he went again; he was starring at Rika. Why was he starring at Rika? Why did it matter if she was smiling? Sure, her beautiful smile was rare, but it was glorious enough to move mountains. Why those lips, when they moved in such a pattern, curled on one end across her face gleamed in the bright light. She didn't wear lip gloss but it seemed to glow in the light along with Rika's natural beauty. Takato wondered what it would feel like to touch those lips with _God damn it._

Takato mentally slapped himself again. He had to stop starring at Rika; his pants were really starting to strain. He needed to find a distraction and quickly!

Takato looked around the room before settling on Jeri. A good idea; Jeri was another girl and should distract him from Rika. Takato focused upon Jeri mature brown eyes that reflected intelligence and happiness. Yet it also reflected a kind of deeper sadness, the type belonging to those who had seen much of the world, often more than they wanted to. Jeri was smiling also, but that was no surprise; she always smiled. But it was a different smile; it was a smile that was happy, yet sad at the same time. A smile of one enjoying the moment, but only because it was better than other moments she had witness. It wasn't like Rika's smile which was seem to radiate beauty. It wasn't a smile that seem to hold a wild spirit and fighter, a smile that held a powerful person who didn't give up. Jeri's smile was composed of dull, insipid lips that were alive but tainted at the same time. Rika's lips were full of life and vitality and beauty, to the point that Takato wanted to press his own against hers and taste that life and _GOD DAMN IT_.

* * *

Jeri Katou felt eyes on her. She looked from the board over to the other Tamers and saw Takato starring at her. 

At her!

She blushed fiercely as she quickly looked down at her report. Although all the Tamers and their parents had taken a hand in saving her from the clutches of the D-Reaper, it been Takato, with the help of Guilmon and Impmon, who had broken through the cage that the D-Reaper held her in and saved her. It was he who had held her and told her it would be alright. And now he was starring at her.

Jeri wasn't too sure what the emotions were that were now brewing in her as Takato starred at her. But she was pretty sure love was part of those emotions. She was pretty sure…

* * *

_The best solution to all this appearances of Wild Ones has one major flaw in it…_ Yamaki thought, as he sat in the shadows along with the other two council members, observing the Tamers sitting in front of them, particularly Takato and Jeri. _The fighters are too busy thinking about getting in each others pants than actual fighting._

Yamaki gave a mental sigh, flicking his lighter as he did so. He looked past Fanatikku at the last council member; a woman with long dark hair and shades hiding her face. True, both he and Fanatikku were wearing shades also, but he and Fanatikku were part of Hypnos II. This woman, who Yamaki had met only briefly before she requested this meeting, was not part of the Hypnos II branch. She was a G-Woman, and the moment she suddenly arrived at Hypnos II, Yamaki knew why she was here. And if he was right, then the Tamers had a lot more to worry about than rampaging harmones…

* * *

"As am I," said a calm, cool female voice. 

Takato took his eyes off Jeri (who seemed was currently re-reading the packet she wrote again; how odd) and focused upon the last figure. If he had not heard the obviously female voice, he would not have been able to tell that the last council member was a woman. He didn't recognize the woman's voice at all, and the dramatic contrast of light rendered seeing any facial features null.

Takato didn't have time to ponder this new mystery woman as Yamaki flicked his lighter again and continued speaking. "Then we may begin this meeting. The board recognizes Roiyaru Fanatikku of the Hypnos II Enforcement." The silver lighter flashed as Yamaki gestured to the huge bulky man next to him, the man Takato and the other guys knew only as "The Enforcer".

Fanatikku's loud gruff voice echoed off the room walls. "We begin, as always, with a summary of the current events," He paused, as a flurry of typing could be heard for a split second before the recorders finished writing what he just spoke. Satisfied, Fanatikku continued.

"At this moment, the Hypnos II has been in existence for almost an entire year. The Tamer Solution, however, did not come into fruition until about six months ago, after the Grand Locomon incident."

It didn't miss Takato's eye when Rika looked the other way as Fanatikku glanced over at her. Takato was not sure what had happen that day Rika was infected by Parisimon; Renamon had told him not to talk to Rika about it. Whatever it was, it clearly still affected her.

"The government, realizing that that another invasion from the Digital World could occur, launched the Tamer Solution with Yamaki at its tow. In this program, new Tamers are selected from a group of volunteers and given partners through the newly created device known as the **_Teimāzu_** Reasoning Analytical Informative Neurological System, aka TRAINS. With the help of Jeri Katou, new Tamers and partners have been joined together and are being trained as we speak, to create an army of Tamers to fight off invasion."

Trained as we speak…Takato thought back to the fight between the Gotsumon and the Goamon known as Finrak.

Training? Fighting? Slaughtering of the gladiators was a better term.

Fanatikku leaned forward slightly so that part of the light caught upon his face, allowing the Tamers to see him. The shadow on his face, along with his two scars gave him a rightening, demented look. As he continued, the volume of his voice increased as one does when addressing a more important issue.

"And invasion maybe upon us again, as for the last fourteen days, the pattern of realization has become increasingly alarming. There is no doubt that something is amiss, as the often unpredictable pattern of realization has gained a streak of regularity. The board will recognize Miss. Katou of the Trainers, who has observed this unusual event."

Fanatikku leaned back into the shadows, but not before confusing Takato greatly. _Pattern of realization? Gained a streak of regularity?_ Takato thought confused. _Does he mean lack of realizations? How can the lack of any realizations be the beginnings of an invasion?_

Takato turned his head over to Jeri as she began speaking. "As you know, realizations of Wild Digimon have been occurring for quite some time now. But just two weeks ago, the realizations have begun quicker and closer together, with one a day, sometimes two. This is not unusual in that respect, as booming in realizations have come and gone in the past.

"But before, the realizations have occurred at random and separate times of the day. In the last two weeks, all the realizations have occurred close together and at the same time in the day, but always in different locations. In fact," Jeri pulled out a notepad and flipped to a page. "Just six days ago, TWO realizations occurred in two different locations but at the same time of the day and nearly the same hour."

Now Takato was really confused. He glanced over at Kazu and Kenta; they seemed just as confused as he did. Takato decided to clear this up. "Um, excuse me-"

"Thank you Jeri," Yamaki said, oblivious to Takato. He leaned forward slightly and continued, "Now our strategy so far has been plain and simple; Hypnos II's supercomputer detects and locates the emergence of Wild Ones. This data is transmitted to the Tamer's D-Arcs in the form of a loud alarm. The Tamers, upon receiving this alarm, follow the data sent then eliminate the Wild One. Simple and easy, it has proven effective so far.

"But so far we have only dealt with random, wild realizations. With these uniform realizations, we may need a new strategy. Idea's anyone?"

Takato raised his hand slightly. "Umm, yeah, I have-"

Again, Takato was ignored as Fanatikku loud voice engulf Takato's nervous one. "We could begin using the newly trained Tamers, the ones with the highest scores and best experience." The shuffling of papers could be heard as Roiyaru flipped open the report, presumably to see who the new Tamers were.

"Hold on a sec-" Takato said, a little louder.

"I'm sorry sir," Jeri said, interrupting Takato. "But you'll see in my report that I do not believe any student Tamers we have are capable of hunting and dealing with Wild Ones. They will need more times."

"Hey-"

"These **rookie** Tamers," Takato was again ignored as Fanatikku placed a great deal of emphasis on the word 'rookie'. "Are called rookies for a reason; they can fight but they have no experience. Written test and monitored matches are all fine and good, can only get you so far. School lectures, while they are extremely informative Miss. Katou-" Fanatikku tipped his hand in compliment to Jeri, who did not smile but remained neutral. Despite it appearing to be a compliment, it seemed more like an insult in Takato's opinion…

"-Do not prepare for a real battle with a Wild Digimon. These students need battle experience, and they can only get that from fighting real fights."

"Can I say-" Takato said, his nervousness being replaced by annoyance.

"What you say is true sir," Jeri said, as she, along with everyone else, continued to ignore Takato. Her eyes narrowed as she glared at Fanatikku, but her voice was calm and respectful; which made it seem all the more insulting. "But I have been the one training these **student** Tamers." Jeri placed an equally large emphasis on the world 'student'. "I know their strengths and weaknesses, their limits and maximum potential. And, although I mean you no disrespect, you yourself are not a Tamer."

"What are-"

"What you speak is also true," Fanatikku said, pulling off his shades and glaring at Jeri. He replied in that same insulting respectful voice that Jeri used. "I have no experience in Digimon fighting. But if I remember correctly…"

Fanatikku's eyes narrowed and his voice dripped with venom. "It was only you, Miss. Katou, who lost your Digimon partner in battle."

Jeri's face flushed red with rage as she stood up so quickly, she tipped over her chair. "Why you-"

"HOLD ON A SECOND!" Takato shouted, his anger at being ignored and the piercing glares being thrown between Jeri and Fanatikku galvanizing him. The whole room immediately went silent, as everyone starred at the sudden outburst. Takato sweat dropped and turned red with embarrassment.

"The board recognizes Takato Matsuki of the Main Tamers." Yamaki made no attempt to hide his annoyance at the sudden outburst. Takato also thought he heard relief in Yamaki's voice, relief that the possible brewing fight had stop; Fanatikku had replaced his shades and returned into the shadow and Jeri, while still red with anger, had recovered her chair and sat down. But that didn't matter as Takato flushed red at all the attention being diverted upon him.

"Umm, well," Takato's voice was soft and made no attempt to hide his nervousness and embarrassment at his outburst. "It's just, all this talk…"

"Yes?" Yamaki replied, his voice terse.

"Well, I haven't really…I haven't really seen any Wild Ones in the last two weeks." Takato finshed quickly starring at his the table in front of him.

"Neither have I!" Kazu suddenly said, galvanized by Takato's outburst. He twisted his hat slightly, so his brown eyes could clearly be seen.

"Nor I!" Kenta added, inspired by both Kazu's and Takato's actions.

Takato didn't need to see Yamaki's eyebrows to know he had them raised. "The board recognizes Kazu Shioda and Kenta Kitagawa," He said, his voice barely betraying his bemusement.

"Yeah, we don't know what you guys are talking about!" Kazu continued; now that he started, he was going to keep going. "Invasion? We haven't seen a single Realization in two whole weeks!"

And before anyone else could reply to this bold statement, the third council member, the unknown woman, bent forward out of the shadows and said, "And that, my dear boy, is the point of this meeting."

* * *

Takato did not know who this woman was, why she was here, or how fit into this meeting; she hadn't spoken a word except for at the beginning, when she confirmed she was ready! 

Yet when she leaned out, the temperature in the room seem to drop. Takato felt cold, as he starred into the dark shades of this woman. Both Yamaki and Fanatikku wore shades, but when Takato looked into this woman's face, his heart seemed to stop in fear. Takato could feel the blood running out of his face, as two beads of sweat trickled down the back of his neck. Takato noticed Yamaki and Fanatikku, who had looked completely in charge only a second ago, look foreign and uncomfortable. Disturbing…

"What do you mean?" Kenta asked. Takato noticed his reaction to this woman was not unique; Kenta could not quite keep the tremble of fear out of his voice.

"Yeah, who are you anyway!?" Kazu shouted, his fear overshadowed by his annoyance at being out of the loop.

"The board recognizes Kim Duong of the Japanese Government," Yamaki said curtly.

"Thank you Yamaki," The G-Woman said, her sweet, calm voice sending shivers down Takato's spine. She turned her attention to the Tamers, particularly Kazu.

"I am an employee of the Japanese government, as Hypnos II is. However I work for a different branch, a branch that inspects and evaluates the current progress of higher-up, more secretive government branches. You have no seen me before because there was no reason for me to be here."

Her shades flashed as she looked at all the Tamers. "Of course," She continued, "That was when you worked as a team."

"What do you mean 'was'?" Takato inquired, suddenly finding his voice.

The G-Woman's shades found Takato and the familiar shivers went down his spine again. "A team, Takato, works together, supporting each other. A team, Takato, does not burden one member with the entire load."

Out of the corner of his eye, Takato saw Rika suddenly tense up. Turning his attention back to G-Woman, he stated, "I don't understand."

The G-Woman clasped her fingers together and brought it in front of her face, as spoke. "It is like students working on a project together in school. Often times, the teacher creates the group and tells the students to write evaluations for other and grades each student separately. This is because school children will, if not watched, will not split the work evenly, and most often heap all of the work to one, unlucky child. Such is human nature.

"But this is not a school. You are students, but I, nor these other council members, are not your teachers. This is a government-run program in a government-run facility. This is not a school project; this is a serious matter, with people's lives hanging upon the decisions this facility and its members make."

"But…What are you talking about?" Kenta cried, his glasses slipping off slightly. "This doesn't make any sense!"

The G-Woman's face formed a grimace. "Unfortunately, it does make sense. It is crystal clear. In the last fourteen days, there have been fifteen realizations, all occurring within the early morning, between zero hour and oh-three-hundred. Every single incident has been handle by one Tamer and partner; the same Tamer and partner every time."

"Who is that?" Takato asked, though for some odd reason, he felt that he already knew the answer.

"Rika Nonaka."

* * *

Rika flushed as every eye turned to her. She had being placed on the spot. She shifted her legs, crossing and uncrossing them in her embarrassment. 

"Rika is that true?" Takato asked, softly.

Rika looked into Takato's deep brown eyes, that seemed to pierce her soul. She squirmed under his gaze- _what the? Why did I just squirm? I did what I did because I wanted to do it. I shouldn't feel guilty!_ Rika thought to herself.

Yet under Takato's gaze, Rika couldn't help but feel guilty for some unknowing wrong. His soft, mellow voice made her feel as if she had done something terrible. She couldn't meet his gaze as she replied; "Yes."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Kazu demanded, in a much less mellow voice.

Rika flushed with anger; as if she needed to tell Kazu anything. Before she could retort the G-Woman broke in.

"She should not need to tell you anything," The G-Woman said, her voice cross. "At every realization, an alarm activates on each of your D-Arcs, notifying you to move and eliminate the Wild One. Whether you respond to the alarm, however, is another question."

The G-Woman leaned closer. "I do not know whether it is laziness at the realizations being at such an early time, immaturity by giving the duties to one person only, or simple cowardness that kept you Tamers from your responsibilities; it does not matter. Ducking out upon one's responsibility should not, and **will not** be tolerated. Disciplinary action will occur."

The G-Woman pulled out of a brief case from under the desk and opened it. Takato was shocked; could they have actually been ducking out of their duties?

"But…What are you going to do with us?" Kenta asked, trembling so much, his glasses slipped down his face.

The G-Woman looked up. "What I am going to do? Nothing."

"Huh?" Was all Kenta could say. Takato and Kazu voiced their own noises of confusion.

"I am a government official inspector. I identify the problems of our institutions. I do not handle the disciplinary action. That is handled by…"

"Me." Fanatikku's loud gruff voice echoed off the walls, and the desk creaked as it supported the weight of his muscular arms as he leaned forward.

_Oh shit._ Was all Takato could think…

* * *

This was not what Rika expected, much less wanted. She did not realize disabling the alarm at each realization would cause so much trouble. And it wasn't trouble for her; Takato and the others were being blamed. 

Now she really was feeling guilty. Fanatikku, though he was a good man, was a veteran soldier. First of all, he would, no matter how hard he tried, view the Tamer's supposed "ducking out of responsibility" as cowardness. Secondly, all of the Tamers were boys; Fanatikku was extremely masculine. He would be greatly angered at how these men had supposedly shouldered their duties to a woman, especially his young, fatherless friend Rika.

This caused another confliction; Rika was the friend of Fanatikku. As much as Rika hated to admit it, she had a feeling Fanatikku felt pity for her, because her father had left her. Due to his masculine nature, Rika couldn't help but suspect Fanatikku considered himself as the only fatherly figure in Rika's life. He would act like a father would when confronted with his daughter's supposed bullies; punish the offenders.

And most of all Fanatikku valued loyalty above all else. Fanatikku did not make many friends, but the friends he made could always count upon him always be there. He would view the Tamer's actions as base treachery, the worst possible crime to be committed. His punishment would be terrible…

Unless she fessed up.

She stood up and look directly at the G-Woman.

"The board recognizes Rika Nonaka of the Main Tamers," Yamaki stated, as Rika stood up.

Rika nodded to Yamaki in thanks and looked straight into the shades of G-Woman. "I'm sorry madam, but there has been a serious misunderstanding here."

"Please elaborate," The G-Woman replied.

Aware that every eye in the room lay upon her, Rika took a breath and continued; "The other Tamers never showed up in the last two weeks because I was disabling the alarm."

* * *

Gasp and expressions of surprise echoed across the room. Fanatikku sighed and took off his shades, rubbing his face with his hand. Yamaki groaned and began flicking his lighter repeatedly. Kenta's glasses slipped off as he gasped in surprise and Kazu slapped himself in the face so hard his hat fell off. Jeri's eyes seem to fall in sadness, but she seemed to have expected this to happen. However, none of this registered in Takato's mind as he starred at Rika. 

Takato was shocked; he couldn't believe it, although in his heart of hearts, he knew it was true. Still; he had known Rika was a hothead fighter but this was beyond a desire to fight. This was borderline suicidal.

"But…why Rika?" Was all Takato could ask. Rika made no reply, but could not meet his gaze, instead starring at her feet.

Only the G-Woman remained calm; her facial expression did not change as she continued looking at Rika. Her gaze did not waver as she asked, "Are you implying that you purposely disabled the alarm so that no other Tamer would respond to the realization of Wild Ones?"

Rika looked up and locked her eyes with that of the G-Woman's shades. "Yes." She said, her voice steady. "The other Tamers are not to be blamed; they had no idea there were other Wild Ones emerging, because there was no alarm to indicate them. They were under the illusion that there have been no realizations in the last two weeks. I am to be blamed for that."

"Rika," Rika looked up in surprise as Fanatikku broke proper decorum by using her first name. She starred into his sharp black eyes and was even more surprise to see them looking…sad?

"Do you realize the serious allegations your statement carries?" Fanatikku continued.

_I thought I did…but now I'm not too sure_, Rika thought mentally. She didn't think it was that big of a deal, but if Fanatikku, the man who was made out of tradition, had broken proper decorum by using her first name, it clearly was. She decided to answer truthfully by saying, "I'm not too sure."

"It is very serious, Miss Nonaka," The G-Woman said, her voice neutral. "The severity of your infraction must be disciplined."

The G-Woman's face changed very slightly; it had been impassive before. Now, for a split second, Rika thought she saw emotion. Rika thought she saw…pity.

But then it was gone as the G-Woman continued, her voice loud so all could hear. "Rika, by the power bestowed upon me by the Japanese government, I am court martialing you for tampering with life-dependent materials, recklessness, and being a danger to those around you. The other Tamers will leave now so your interrogation will begin."

* * *

"What!? You can't do that!" Kazu shouted. 

The G-Woman turned to him. "Yes I can and I will. This is a serious infraction that must be dealt with immediately."

"But…But we're just kids!" Kenta stammered.

Jeri spoke before the G-Woman; "Yes…Yes she can Kenta. We signed the deal."

Takato looked at Jeri, who was looking sadly at her hands. "What do you mean Jeri?" Takato inquired.

"By signing up for this job, we're now government employees. We are working on government owned ground with government owned property. They can punish us as they deemed fit, in any way shape or form save death or permanent injury." She said it in a sad little voice.

"Yes, you all signed the forms." The G-Woman said, her voice emotionless. "Now you may voluntary leave so we may begin the interrogation of Miss. Nonaka, or you may be escorted out."

She gestured to the door, which was immediately opened by one of the agents. Defeated, the Tamers began filing out. Takato looked over to Rika who was still standing, looking in her face. He tried to catch her eye but it was no use. She was standing perfectly straight, starring at the G-Woman, her face unreadable. She no longer seemed full of life; rather her body seemed to be made out of stone as she stood still and erect. Giving up, Takato followed Kazu and exited the room.

"What the hell was Rika thinking?"

* * *

Takato could only shrugged at Kazu's angry outburst as he starred at the sleeping creature before him; he was use to Kazu's outbursts at Rika, knowing that whenever Kazu was twisting his hat in his hands, as he was doing now, a rant was soon to follow. Takato always just nodded and agreed with whatever Kazu was saying. 

They were in a large room, leaning on a small fence that really served only a formality. By Japanese law, creatures, domesticated or not, were to be placed behind fences in government buildings. This fence, however, could not stop a five-year-old child, much less the inhabitant of this room.

Multiple trees were planted in the floor, which was entirely made out of grass. Many plastic structures stood at the middle, serving as both scenery and tools of entertainment. The whole area would have looked like a large park, complete with playground and trees, were it not for a multitude of huge holes decorating the ground. The holes were all clearly dug in the style of dog holes, but on a much larger scale.

The holes were all dug by the sleeping creature that Takato was starring at. It was reminiscent of the extinct dinosaurs, but as one old man had once proven, it could be mistaken for a dog. Although it slept upon its stomach, Takato knew that the Digimon radiation sign marked the white underbelly of the creature. A virus-type Digimon, it was Takato's child-like partner Guilmon. Normally energetic and talkative, Guilmon was currently sleeping…like Takato should be.

But all thought of sleep was driven out of his mind as he thought only of Rika. Although he wouldn't put it in the same terms as Kazu, the same question ran through Takato's mind; What was Rika thinking?

Rika had always been a pugnacious girl; before the Main Tamers had became friends, she and Renamon hunted down the Wild Ones, eliminating them and keeping the public from discovering the existence of Digital Monsters. True, she wasn't looking to save people; simply make Renamon stronger and crush opponents. Takato remembered all to well how when he and Rika first met, Rika kept trying to kill Guilmon and have Renamon assimilate his data.

But Rika had changed; she no longer saw Renamon as only a fighting tool, but a real creature with emotions as acute as a humans. She no longer sought to fight the other Tamers, instead befriending and fighting along side with them. She had been one of the four Tamers who biomerged with their Digimon partners and fought inside the D-Reaper itself. She no longer even sought to find Wild Ones and crush them for the joy of fighting…

Or maybe she did. Was that why she had disabled the alarm? Was she trying to seek the thrill of a fight, a thrill she could only find fighting alone? Takato didn't know; he knew Rika wasn't suicidal, but as he thought about it, he wouldn't put it past Rika to see the risk as a better reason to fight. It scared Takato to think of Rika, her face wild with joy, in the midst of the battle, modifying and digivolving Renamon…

Scared? As Takato thought about the image that had popped into his head, he realized that it didn't really scare him. Her lavender eyes seemed to burn with a powerful intensity, like a volcano about to erupt. Her face seemed to shine as that dangerously innocent smile played across her face. Her clothes seem to tighten around her body; her shirt seemed to be smaller, pulling on her chest, accenting two round mounds that moved in and out as she breathed deeply. Takato imaged what it would feel like to run his hand between those two mounds-

"Takato. Takato. Yo Takato you there?"

The image of Rika burst as Takato gave a guilty start. Kazu was waving his hand in front of Takato's face, his face that of concern. Takato flushed and quickly turned his waist so the bulge in his pants could not be seen.

"Sorry, what were you saying Kazu?" Takato asked, his voice stammering as he tried desperately to look nonchalant. "Oh yeah; no, I don't know what Rika was thinking."

Kazu frowned, his face suspicious. He choose not to pursue it, however, as he spoke; "I wasn't wondering what Rika was thinking; I already know she's crazy. I was asking whether you're going to do anything about someone over there."

Kazu jerked his thumb over his shoulder. Takato bent over and looked around Kazu to where Kazu indicated.

Jeri Katou was leaning on the fence further down from Kazu and Takato. It appeared she was looking at Guilmon, but Takato couldn't tell; Jeri hair covered her face. Takato suddenly realized what Kazu was implying.

"Well, I'm going to go check on Guardromon," Kazu said, placing on his hat. A shit-eating grin was on Kazu's face. "He's probably asleep; you know how that metal tin can is."

Kazu winked at Jeri and chuckled as if he was in on a big secret. He then patted Takato on the back and exited the room, leaving Takato with Jeri. Takato could only sigh; typical Kazu.

He approached Jeri, trying very hard to conceal the bulge in his pants. Despite his attempts, one could clearly see he moved with the air of someone clearly not wanting to do something. Takato liked Jeri; and not just liked, but really liked her. This was common knowledge, as Kazu had just demonstrated. And before tonight, Takato would have been thankful to Kazu, grateful for an opportunity such as this.

But ever since that dream, Takato wasn't too sure. Did he not like Jeri anymore? Did he like Rika? Rika was a good friend, but a hothead with a quick temper. Jeri, on the other hand, was a sweet, happy girl, the type that could make all around her happy. Sure, her mundane brown hair wasn't like Rika's recognizable red spiky style, or her calm brown eyes weren't like Rika's fiery lavender ones, and her body wasn't as curvy and tight as…

And then all thought of Rika disappeared as Takato suddenly realized Jeri was crying. He didn't realize before because of her hair, but he was close enough now to hear her silent sobs and see her body tremble.

He rushed over to Jeri and posed the question, "Jeri, what's wrong?"

Jeri raised her face at the sound of Takato's concern voice; her face was glistened in the light, wet with her silent tears. She wiped her face with her hand, but more tears simply fell and made it wet again. She turned her face, embarrassed and replied in a small, meek voice, "N..nothing Takato. Everything's fine."

"No its not," Takato said, grabbing Jeri's hand with one hand and turning her face to his with the other. "Come on tell me; don't bottle it in."

When Jeri continued crying, Takato leaned closer and whispered, "It's alright Jeri. You can talk to me."

Looking into Takato's soft, mellow eyes, Jeri suddenly remembered when was the last time she had been this close to Takato. It had been over a year ago…

_The red bits and pieces that made up the D-Reaper flew all over the place. She was free. And she was afraid._

_Jeri could barely keep her eyes opened as she seemed to hover in the sky, the area previously being the cage of the D-Reaper. She registered a bright light, before she suddenly began falling._

_And fell into someone's strong arms. She heard her savior shout, "Jeri! Jeri! It's me!"_

_She recognized that voice…_

"_Ta…Takato?" It was hard to speak; her mouth was completely numb from the fluids of the D-Reaper._

"_Don't worry Jeri…You're safe," She squinted and saw Takato dirty but concern face hovering over her, his soft mellow eyes piercing hers. As she looked at them, her fear seemed to melt and disappear. Those eyes were so deep and comfortable and reassuring. The arms she was in felt strong, thriving with energy. In these arms, starring into these eyes, laying this close to Takato, she felt…safe._

"_Takato…" She muttered, before the blissful darkness of sleep consumed her._

And she felt safe now.

"Takato, am I a good Tamer?" She asked, her voice trembling, but no longer in fear; only in exhaustion.

Takato knew why she was crying; Fanatikku's gibe about her partner, Leomon, had hurt her deeply. Takato felt his anger rise; it wasn't right for Fanatikku to attack Jeri like that. It wasn't her fault that her partner had been killed; the opponent they were fighting with was both powerful and murderously insane. So powerful, in fact, that all the Tamers and their partners could have died. No matter how strong Jeri was, there was nothing she could have done to change what happen.

And it was a testament to her strength that Jeri was able to recover from the loss and regain happiness. Her strong will allowed her to return to the Tamers and teach the new rookie, or "student Tamers" as she preferred to call them. Her forgiving nature had allowed her to take the hand of Beelzemon, Leomon's killer reformed and renounced, and forgive him. It made Takato's blood boil that someone could take that hard-earned happiness from Jeri and leave her with only sadness. It made him angry. It made him want to wake up Guilmon and head over to Roiyaru Fanatikku and show him what happened when he messed with the Tamers. It made him want to…

_Stop_.

Takato silenced that line of thought; he could still remember the sound his D-Arc had made as it shattered against the ground like brittle glass. Last time he had gotten that angry, it only made the situation worst. After Jeri's partner had fallen in battle, Takato had become murderous. He tried not to remember how he had forced Guilmon to digivolve into the dark creature of Takato's darkest imagination to take vengeance upon the killer. Takato mentally shuddered; he had been stupid that day, his judgment clouded by his anger. Instead of looking for vengeance, he should have been helping Jeri. His guilt at losing control had caused him to distance himself from Jeri, when he should have been comforting her. He left Jeri to fend for herself, leaving her susceptible to the D-Reaper's clutches.

But instead of dwelling on the past, one should correct one's mistakes and make sure it doesn't happen again in the future. And Takato was going to make sure the same events would not repeat in the future.

He looked into Jeri's wet brown eyes. "You're not a Tamer Jeri," He said softly pushing her hair from her eyes. "You're better than that. You're a teacher of Tamers, and an amazing one. You've heard what you're students call you; Jeri the Amazing. And its true. You are amazing."

And Takato set her straight up on her feet and hugged her tightly. He whispered into her ear, "And don't let anyone else tell you different."

Jeri hugged him back and smiled happily, her tears gone. She knew she could trust Takato. Takato was always, and would always be there for her, to catch her should she fall.

"Thank you Takato," She whispered back to him.

They stayed embraced for about a minute before Jeri whispered to Takato again, her voice amused, "And you can stop hugging me now."

Takato blushed and jumped backed. He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment as he sweat-dropped and chuckled nervously. "Sorry," He stammered.

Jeri laughed, wiping her remained tears away. "Don't worry about it," She said, merrily. "I kind of enjoyed it."

A guilty look immediately came across Takato's face, but Jeri didn't see it as she turned and looked at the sleeping form of Guilmon. She grimaced as she spoke; "But I doubt Rika is enjoying anything right now."

"What do you mean?" Takato wiped the guilty look off of his face and rearranged to that of solemn neutrality, as Jeri turned to face him.

She sighed. "You didn't read the form and regulation before you signed it, did you Takato?" Continuing on over Takato's stuttering, she said, "What Rika has done is a lot more serious than it seems. This isn't just a hotshot trying to take on everything; its much more than that."

Her eyes turned stony. "Much more."

* * *

**Click**

The G-Woman turned the recorder and then spoke in a calm, icy voice. "Please state your name for the record."

Rika had been led to a small white room, brightly lit in contrast to the previous room. A large mirror covered the back side of the wall, reflecting two metal chairs, placed at the opposite ends of a small metal table. Upon the table, paper and pen along with a small, black recorder. Rika had been told to sit at the chair closest to the door; it did not escape her that the chairs were deliberately made uncomfortable. Fanatikku had then entered the room along with the G-Woman after Rika. He drew up a chair and sat behind Rika, while the G-Woman had sat in the chair across from Rika. Yamaki was no where to be seen.

"Rika Nonaka of the Main Tamers," Rika replied. Her voice was equally calm and icy. She was numb and emotionless. The ice cage had returned around her heart to defend her from her enemies.

"Please state the name of your Digimon partner."

"Renamon of the Kitsune family."

"Are you aware of the consequences if you do not fully cooperate?"

Rika glanced at her fingernails before voicing her affirmative. "Yes."

"Please state what you have been doing for the last two weeks."

Rika's face remained impassive. "I have been deliberately disabling the Hypnos II alarm so that it would only be me who responded to the realization."

The G-Woman pushed the paper and pen towards Rika. "Please write that down as your written statement."

Rika paused for a split second before complying. The G-Woman took the paper, glanced at it, and proceeded with the interrogation.

"This statement is in good order. However, I still must ask you a few more questions before we can finish, if you do not mind."

_I hate answering questions,_ Rika thought to herself. However, she replied, "No, I do not mind."

"Good. Now, how did you manage to disable the Wild One realization alarm?"

Rika leaned back slightly, her face pensive as she recalled the scene. "It was about two weeks back…"

* * *

_Fifteen Days Earlier..._

Rika was garbed in her black school uniform with her backpack slung over her shoulder; she had come directly from school in this medium-size office. The whole place was a mess, with papers, computers screens, and wires strung all over the place. A single beat-up desk stood in the middle of the jumbled mess, its top filled with papers and the shadow of the man crouching over it.

The man's clothes were shabby, just like the office and table around him, patched in various places. They looked and smelled many years old, as if they had been worn multiple times and washed very few. Coupled with the man's long hair and dark shadows under his eyes, the man looked like a hobo.

The key term being looked. Most of the time, his ragged, brown cap covered his eyes, but at the moment that old hat was on the desk next to him, revealing a pair of startling blue eyes. These blue eyes glowed with an intensity and intelligence, not that of the dull ones that belong to the hopeless homeless, but with the hopeful and brilliant inventor. When one looked into those eyes, one knew they starred not into the eyes of a hobo, but that of a genius.

Or maybe Rika only knew he was a genius because she knew the identity of the man; Shibomi. The main programmer and driving force in the original Monster Makers team, Shibomi alone was the one who continued to research and explore the depths of the Digital World he and his colleagues had created. He had dived into its depths, digging deeply…and nearly drowned as he attempted to force his way into the Digital World and found himself stuck in-between; he contained the drive and belief in the Digital World, but not the childish innocence that allowed one to access one's own **_Teimāzu _**easily.

He had eventually broken out and returned to the Digital World, in time to fight against the D-Reaper. It was he alone who created the Red Card, the mathematical algorithm that allowed the Tamers to enter the D-Reaper mass and eliminate it. After the destruction of the D-Reaper, he, along with the rest of the Monster Makers, joined the revival of Hypnos, helping where they could.

At the moment, however, he was bent over Rika's D-Arc. He had a whole mass of computers and wires attached to it, and he hummed to himself as he typed in complicated sequences and code into the computer monitor. Rika stood silently, watching him work his magic. She hoped he would succeed; she really wanted to do this.

Finally Shibomi disconnected Rika's D-Arc and looked up. "That should do it Rika," He said, his voice curious. "So…why do you want your alarm to beep three times before all the other Tamers?"

Rika shrugged. "I just want to get a head start heading towards the fight."

Shibomi raised an eyebrow, then shrugged also. He glanced down at the e-mail Rika had sent him. "And you said you wanted to know how to disable the alarm? Well I wrote down the sequence of code required to do that on that piece of paper," He pointed at the only unwrinkled piece of paper on the desk. "But why would you need to know that?"

Rika had been expecting that question. "Well, I was thinking; what happens when a false alarm occurs? Or if a trap is lying for us at a Realization point? All Tamers should know how to disable the alarm, just in case." She smiled sweetly as she lied.

Shibomi frowned. "Hmm…I guess that makes sense," He made no attempt, however, to hide the suspicion in his voice. He put his hands behind his head and leaned back, looking at the ceiling...

Warning bells immediately went off in Rika's head. She had seen that pose before; Shibomi always did this action when he started making connections, putting two and two together. She couldn't risk him realizing what she was planning. So she decided to use her trump card.

"Oh by the way," Rika said, drawing Shibomi's attention as spoke in a very sweet, girlish, and the most un-Rika-like voice ever. She pulled a video tape out of her backpack and held it. "I gave Renamon this camera and got her to do her teleportation thingy. The whole thing is on tape if you wanted to see it. I don't know if you can use it but I thought I'll ask-"

She never seen any human move as fast as Shibomi did as he grabbed the tape and placed it into one of his computers. His hands move quickly as he began firing up programs and pulling papers from the place. He seemed ignorant of the world, even seemingly forgetting Rika was still there.

Rika grinned. Although Shibomi was a programmer, he was still possessed the driving curiosity that characterized the Hypnos II scientist. And it was a dream for scientist to even see what teleportation looked like, much less figured out how Renamon did it. Of course Renamon would never teleport for any of the scientist (it was why she hated staying in Hypnos II), but Renamon would gladly do it for Rika. The videotape of teleportation should keep all thought of Rika's request out of Shibomi's head for a good time. It was doubtful he would even remember that he had modified Rika's D-Arc for her by the next morning. Rika grabbed the sheet of code, along with her D-Arc and left the office, laughing mentally to herself. It was too easy.

* * *

"So Shibomi of the Monster Makers modified your D-Arc for you?" the G-Woman asked, jotting something down upon her notepad. 

Rika nodded and smiled, remembering at how ludicrously easy it was. "Yes, but he didn't realize what it was for. Like I said, he's a scientist. You know how scientist are."

The G-Woman did not smile back. "What did you do with these modifications and code?"

"Well, since my D-Arc beeped three times before everyone elses, I just disabled the alarm before anyone's alarm beeped. Simple and easy, though I think I let a beep go through once in a while." Rika grinned cockily; for some odd reason, it felt good to tell someone about her ingenuous little plan.

"Do you have any ulterior motives?"

"No, I do not."

"Do you have any accomplices?"

Rika pondered the question for a moment. "No," She decided. "Shibomi helped me but he didn't really know what I was planning to do with his modifications."

"And how long have you been planning this?"

"Not very long; it just came to me the day before I approached Shibomi."

"What did you hope to accomplish?"

Rika shrugged. "Fulfill my duties as a Tamer and protect the people from Wild Digimon."

"What were you planning next?"

"Well, I was actually planning to stop for a week or two, and allow Renamon to rest for a little bit, but then this meeting was called and I couldn't let you blame my friends for my actions?"

"So do you care about your friends?"

_What kind of question was that?_ Rika thought to herself. "Of course I do," She replied curtly. "What kind of question is that?"

The G-Woman's face remained impassive. "I'm sorry, but I am the one asking the questions." She jotted something down on her sheet. "Well, I'm going to assume you consider your Digimon partner Renamon one of your friends. Why didn't weren't you worried about her well-being?"

Rika frowned and sat up. This woman was starting to add harder and more personal questions. "Of course I care about Renamon; she wouldn't be able to digivolve or biomerge with me if we didn't care for each other.

"But while I do care for Renamon, I also know she's powerful. When I first became a Tamer, I was confronted with multiple Digimon, all of them requesting to be my partner. I choose the strongest, fastest, and smartest one of them; Renamon of the Kitsune family."

Satisfied with her reply, Rika leaned back and waited for the next question. The G-Woman continued to look impassive and glanced down at her sheets of questions. "Just two more questions before we're done here Rika."

"Then by all means, go ahead," Rika said, gesturing for the G-Woman to continue.

A smile formed on the G-Woman's lips. "Thank you. Now, do you know anything about the Elektra Outburst six day's ago?"

Up until this moment, Rika had been calm and collected, protected by her ice cage around her heart. She did not flatter in fear at the this frightening and intimidating woman. She did not become agitated at the questions. Nor did she allow she raged or became angry, her hotheadness cooled and surppressed. Her breathing came and went through her nose calmly and slowly, at a regular paced beat. Her face remained neutral and emotionless for the general part, as her clear lavender eyes did not flatter against the dark, black shades of the G-Woman. She was in best terms, the perfect image of the Digimon ice queen she was known to be.

But the moment that question was uttered from the lips of the G-Woman, Rika's pupils dilated. Her face broke and her eyes immediately darted away from the G-Woman's shades. Her breathing went from calm and deep to short and quick. Her legs tightened and crossed, as she unconsiously brushed her hair in her nervousness.

"You have become agitated," The G-Woman declared upon observing Rika. She said this to establish the fact upon tape, which could not see a person, only hear them. This was acceptable. But as Rika glanced into her face, still neutral, and listen to her utter those words with her icy voice which had not changed, she flinched. Somehow, Rika knew the G-Woman was also doing it for the pleasure of seeing her so...

"Please answer the question Miss. Nonaka," The G-Woman continued. "We do not have all day."

Rika trembled, still unable to look at the G-Woman for more than a couple of seconds. She did not want to speak, did not want to know what the Elektra incident was. It never happened, she wasn't there, she didn't even know what happen, it had to be that way...

"Miss. Nonaka. I'm am waiting."

Still no answer, as Rika shifted even more, taking her hand from her hair and grasping her other hand, clenching it so tightly it hurt.

"Miss. Nonaka, need I remind you of the consequences should you not comply to-"

"Yes," Rika suddenly whispered. Her voice was no longer loud and calm, no longer traced with layers of arrogance. Her voice trembled along with her body, no longer full of life and energy, but dead and dull.

And scared.

"Yes," Rika repeated, her expression only describable as a mixture of terror, guilt, and shame. "Yes, I do know of the Elektra Incident."

The G-Woman leaned back in her chair, a slightly smug-look creeping into her face. "Tell me about it."

Rika let out a shaky breath, and kept her eyes averted from the G-Woman's. "It was six days ago..."

* * *

_Six Days Ago_

Her first mistake was not calling in for back-up. Well, it wasn't her first mistake, but it was her first major mistake. Maybe it was her second major mistake, as her first major mistake was fighting all this fights solo in the last week. It didn't matter, Rika couldn't doubt herself.

But then again, it wasn't like she really could if she wanted to. Which she didn't. She should have asked Shibomi how to resend the alarm signal once it was disabled, but then again, it would have been useless, since she wouldn't have done it anyway. Her pride stopped her...no that wasn't it. Something else... She couldn't think though.

She pulled herself from the dirt, pulling against the side of the tunnel walls. The place was pitch black; the light that normally lit the tunnel was not working; probably broken in Renamon's attack. This Digimon's shell was tough.

"Renamon?" Her voice cracked with exhaustion.

"I'm here," An equally tired voice pierce the darkness, and Rika felt Renamon's furry body next to hers.

She also felt blood dripping onto her hand.

"Did you get hit?" She asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

"No, just grazed." Renamon replied. "I am still tired from the last fight."

The last fight...which was only thirty minutes ago. A Coronamon, a flaming lion-like creature had realized only a couple of minutes after midnight. Rika had disabled the alarm and fought the digimon with Renamon, defeating him as she had done with all the rest of the Digimon in the last week. There was no change to their new routine that they had set up.

But then the alarm had sounded again, only minutes after the data of the Coronamon had dissappated; another realization had occurred...and Rika had automatically disabled it without thinking. She was exhausted and so was Renamon. So, she had decided that they would defeat this new threat.

Baka baka baka. She had been so stupid.

Renamon and Rika had arrived at the location; a recently abandoned project, that was suppose to create a new subway system under the a suburban area of Japan. The surface was jammed pack with houses; Japan was a country that possessed a small amount of land and a huge population.

The idea was to bring more accessibility to certain areas in Japan, however it was later abandoned due to the high cost; they were using a Tunnel Boring Machine, which was extremely expensive, but allowed one to drill without disturbing the ground above. The project had also been poorly planned, it had been realized halfway into the project there was a vast amount of hard rock buried in the middle of the planned route. The TBM could have drilled through it, but the area was too unstable, and would have caused too much damage to the houses above it. The project would require more tools and careful procedures to remove the granite. All which cost money.

So the project had been abandoned. The TBM still laid inside the half completed tunnel, having not been picked up yet due to scheduling errors. A whole network had crashed due to an unexpected massive drop in temperature, which froze a great amount of generators which would have been turned off had there been some warning.

The Wild One one had realized inside the tunnel and could be heard banging away at what undoubtly was the TBM when Rika and Renamon had arrived at the scene. And it was there Rika made her second mistake; she and Renamon entered the tunnel. The tunnel was large enough for many humans and much equipment to go through. But it was still an enclosed area; less space for Renamon to utilize her speed. Also, the whole area was unstable; that was why the project had been abandoned. What Rika should have done, and would have done if the situation was different, was lure or scare the Wild One out of the tunnel into the outside, a much safer place which allowed Renamon to utilize her full speed and would give them the advantage.

But she hadn't, and Renamon and Rika had entered the tunnel where they had laid eyes upon a giant crab that her D-Arc had labeled as "Crabmon X". The massive crab filled up almost the entire tunnel with its massive body, as it sat on top of the TBM, banging the machine with its claws. It had ceased its mindless banging on the TBM when it noticed Renamon and Rika.

"Diamond Storm!" Renamon had shouted, and sent her signature diamonds...but at half speed. The diamonds had bounced off the crab's hard shell and been sent flying everywhere, one obviously hitting Renamon and another smashing the lights, bringing them to their current situation.

"Ugh," Rika grunted, trying to push herself up in the darkness. "The back-up lights are going to come back on soon Renamon, but we gotta finish this fight quick. We're going to have to hit him in his weak-point; his stomach."

She wearily pulled out her deck of cards. "How many more digimodify cards can you take Renamon?"

Renamon groaned, and Rika could heard bones cracking as Renamon undoubtly streched herself. "I was modified a great deal in our last fight, but I believe I can handle one more." There was a sound similar to a knife being pulled out of its pouch as Renamon created a single diamond in the palm of her hand.

Rika pulled out a card as the back-up lights flicked on, revealing a bleeding Renamon and a confused and disoriented Crabmon. "Then lets do this. Digimodify! Shellmon Hydro Blast Activate!"

Her D-Arc glowed brightly and Rika felt the power coursing through Renamon, as Renamon turned, aimed and shot at Crabmon. The intense force of the water would smash and flip Crabmon over, exposing his weak underbelly and allowing Renamon to fatally stab him with the diamond shard she had formed upon her hand. It was a good plan, and should have been effective.

But Rika had made a third mistake.

Rika always checked the card before she slide it through her D-Arc. If there was anything that any of the new Tamers learned, it was always to check the card before you use it. For Rika and the other Main Tamers, who had learned through fighting and experience, this action was second nature to them. Failing that, however, either the Tamer or the Digimon partner would be able to feel what type of card is being used as it slides through the D-Arc, and be able to halt the process should the wrong card be selected. These actions are done because a wrongly chosen card can be disasterous and possibly fatal.

But Rika and Renamon were tired, exhausted to the point that their senses were dulled and their minds clouded. Rika did not check the card before she slide it through, her fatigue overcoming what should have been second nature. Both she and Renamon's bodies were too numb to accurately feel anything.

And so instead of high concentrated water, a bolt of lightning flew from Renamon's paws and smashed into Crabmon. The crab Digimon boiled instantly, the electricity destroy his body in less than a second. But the electricity had coursed through the metal train, following the rules of nature by traveling through the conductor.

And the TBM, as unbelievable as it was, had started.

The drill had turned and smashed into the hard rock wall in front of it at high speeds and power. Immediately the whole world seem to begin falling apart, as the vibrations began shaking the tunnel apart. Dirt and rock buffeted Rika, as she realized she was about to be buried alive...

A flash of yellow fur saved her from that faith, as Renamon utilized her last amount of energy to grab Rika and teleported to the surface, just as the tunnel collapsed.

_**CRACK-CRASH**_

A loud cracking noise followed by a crash grabbed Rika and Renamon's attention, as they saw the ground opened up. It was like an earthquake was occurring, but far worst; an earthquake was a natural disaster, an act of God. What was occurring in front of Rika, as the ground shook and split open, as the jammed houses broke and collapsed, their foundations shattered, was an act of stupidity and carelessness. Rika closed her eyes and covered her face as pieces began flying everywhere.

Then the vibrations stopped as soon as it came, and Rika opened her eyes.

"Oh...my...God," Was all Rika could whispered, as she grabbed her hair. Her lavender eyes were wide as they took in every single detail of the disaster she had caused. A huge jabbed hole ran down the land where the tunnel previously was, and massive holes littered the area. A couple of houses were still standing, but the rest were sagging or completely shattered. Debris lay all over the area.

Then the screaming started.

It was the worst sound Rika had ever heard. It wasn't a scream of fear or scream of pain; those Rika could handle, as high-pitched as most of those screams were. No, these screams were that of a person waking up from a nightmare, only to realize it wasn't a nightmare, but god, unforsaking reality.

Rika sat down, her legs suddenly giving out on her. She pulled her legs to her chest and curled up, her lavender eyes wide as she starred as the scene. She covered her ears in attempt to block out the screaming, as she moaned, "Noooo...Make them stop Renamon, make them stop. Oh God, please make them stop."

Renamon wrapped her arms around her and picked her up. "Don't worry Rika, lets get out of here," She breathed, somehow finding strength still left in her as she teleported back to Rika's home. All while, Rika continued to moan, "Make them stop Renamon, make them stop."

"Make them stop."

* * *

"So it was you who caused the incident, Miss. Nonaka?" The G-Woman asked, writing down in her pad. "Is that correct Miss. Nonaka? Miss. Nonaka?" 

The G-Woman looked up and saw Rika wasn't looking at her. Her face was turned to the side, as her head rested upon her legs. Her legs were curled up against her chest as she sat in the chair, and rocked, her lavender eyes starring at the wall to the left of the G-Woman.

"Miss. Nonaka?" The G-Woman repeated.

Rika continued rocking and starring, her eyes clouded as if she was remembering something, as she whispered to herself. The G-Woman leaned closer and listened.

"I screwed up. I really screwed up." Rika moaned as her whole body trembled. The G-Woman mentally sighed; she hated when this happened to those she interrogated.

"Miss. Nonaka!" The G-Woman shouted, trying to get her attention Rika continued to ignore her, as if her eyes no longer saw her. The G-Woman sighed and gestured to Roiyaru Fanatikku, who still sat behind Rika. Fanatikku nodded and placed a hand on Rika shoulder and squeezed it lightly.

Rika suddenly started, and turned her head to the G-Woman. Her lavender eyes cleared as she blinked multiple times. She placed her feet back upon the floor and placed her hands upon the table. Her pained face returned back to a neutral, and unreadable expression.

"Sorry about that," Rika said, her voice calm and loud. Her eyes seemed frozen now. "Are we done?"

The G-Woman shook her head, choosing to ignore the incident. "Just one more question Miss. Nonaka."

Rika's facial expression remained unchanged. "Go ahead."

"Why did you did you do this?"

Rika blinked once. "Could you clarify please?"

"Why did you disable the alarm so only you could fight the Wild Ones?"

There was a long pause. The sound of creaking chairs from the constant shifting of human beings could be heard loudly and clearly, as if it was amplified. Rika continued starring at the G-Woman, without wavering once.

"No excuse." She finally replied.

The G-Woman sighed and placed down her pen. "That will be all the questions Miss. Nonaka."

Rika did not smile. "And what is to be my punishment?"

"Not to be deterred or distracted, are you Miss. Nonaka?" The G-Woman declared, a smile playing on her lips. Rika continued to look impartial. "Very well then."

She flipped through her papers, speaking while she did so to the recorder, "After questioning Rika Nonaka of the Main Tamers, I have gathered enough data to administer proper punishment of Miss. Nonaka. Through her dangerous actions, she has dangered both herslef and others around her. She has displayed arrogance and recklessness, coupled with insubordination. Such actions cannot be tolerated and must be punished accordingly. My judgement is this-"

The G-Woman looked up and starred directly into the face of Rika Nonaka of the Main Tamers. "Rika Nonaka of the Main Tamers will suffer complete suspension of her Digital Monster Taming Rights. She will have her Digital Device and Digimon Partner Renamon confiscated and removed from her. She will be banned from entering Hypnos II grounds permanently. Further disciplinary actions will follow.

"Rika Nonaka will no longer be a Tamer."

* * *

**"Perfect."** The Voice said. "**Perfect."**

"I am ready, My Lord." A deep voice rumbled out of the shadows.

**"Then prepare yourself," **The Voice said. **"For the Real World."**


	4. Suspension

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon

(A/N: School. God damn it. Hate it. Sorry for the long update.)

Chapter 4: Suspension

"Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship." -George Orwell

The trees blew as the wind meandered along, picking up the dying, colored leaves that so decorated the season known as Fall. Flowers and other plants, pointing at the burning sun, were knocked off course, the breeze pushing the stems off. The wind was powerful indeed, as it blew down towards a beaten path.

A semi-line of human beings formed in front of the massive, brown-brick building, seeking shelter under the trees that were align along the path leading towards the building, providing shade from the burning sun. The breeze noted how such humans, dressed in black suits, that defied its might, cowered at the burning eye of the sun. And they would wilt under its power as well. It was this building, or school, as the humans called it, that the breeze flowed towards. It moved with power and strength, turning leaves and blowing hair, gathering more and more strength as it flew through the teeming masses of humans, its speed building as it blew through and-

"GOD DAMN IT!"

Takato Matsuki sighed, bending down to pick up Kazu Shioda's lost hat. "Wind blew your hat off again?" He asked, returning the lost possession to its owner.

Kenta Kitagawa turned his head, his face reproachful. "You don't have to get all angry over something that small Kazu," He admonished, readjusting his glasses.

Kazu huffed, his black eyes burning with annoyance. He swiped his hat from Takato's hand and shoved it back on his head, glaring at Kenta. "It's not the stupid wind! The wind's weak! It's the fact that we have to waste a Saturday morning taking some stupid math test! Spending half the time on a freaking long bus ride! Standing in this damn line that ain't moving in these damn school uniforms in 32 degrees!"

Kazu stopped for a moment to wearily rub his eyes before continuing his tirade; "And we were up all morning at that damn Tamer meeting! Couldn't we wave our Tamer rights or something to get out or take this test later?"

Kenta yawned; "You know, the Americans would say its 90 degrees Fahrenheit. You should start talking in Fahrenheit because we're probably going to have know how to convert Celsius on the test."

Kazu glared at Kenta, causing Kenta to chuckle and look back towards the front of the line All Takato could do was sigh again, running his hand through his hair. Kazu was not alone; Takato was also exhausted and burning up in this damn school uniform, and he was sure Kenta was as well, if his constant yawning gave any clue. Hypnos II made an effort to have these meetings at timely intervals, but when they could not, they made sure to inform their school and postpone any test that the Tamers were about to take.

But the last meeting was an emergency meeting set up by that G-Woman regarding their apparent abandonment of Rika. And while Takato didn't know what happen to Rika, he had a vibe that the G-Woman was the kind of person who would still punish Takato and the other Tamers, despite doing no wrong.

The G-Woman. Just thinking of her gave Takato the chills. Never before had he met someone that seemed so...intimidating! In appearance, she was just a regular, average woman who wore a fancy tuxedo-like dress. She was just like any other female agent that Takato had across of, complete with shades to hide the identity of the woman.

Yet, it was those shades that seemed to pierce Takato soul. They should have acted as a veil for the eyes of the woman, but to Takato, they seemed only to enhance the woman's eyes; an odd idea, since he had never the woman before last night and therefore would not know what her eyes looked like. It was all in a weird vibe Takato had, the same vibe that told Takato that the government was not delaying this test because of the G-Woman.

Come to think of it, Takato realized that he had been having a lot of weird vibes lately. Not only with this G-Woman, but there was the sudden drop in temperature when Takato was waiting for a ride to Hypnos II's transportation to arrive. Takato wasn't sure if he imagined it or not, but it still was odd. And there was the moving of test locations...

The test that Kazu was complaining about, and all these students were waiting outside a large building, was a national exam that all Japanese students were required to take. It was done annually, its official purpose to keep the students sharp. But everyone knew it was actually a test to see how well the students of Japan were doing in comparison to other countries. It was just one of those things that people knew but never talked about. Not like Takato really mind; he was an average student who aimed to finish the test simply to draw Digimon pictures or just think. What he did mind, however, was that while his school did not require them to wear school uniforms, at an event like this where other schools would be at the locations, school uniforms were required to show their school spirit. This meant that the students had to stand in black and red tuxedo-like suits, topped with stiff black pants. Combined with this weather, it was a terrible experience.

But Takato didn't mind that either; it was only the burning weather that was bad. The uniform itself actually looked pretty good, and made Takato feel smart. No, this feeling of apprehension came from the change in test locations. Normally, Takato and the others took it in the school they normally go to. However, at the age of fourteen and looking towards high school, students were required to take a test that needed materials that only certain schools had. Takato's school had these materials...or use to. Someone had stolen all the supplies, most likely as an attempt to avoid the test. While this would have been great, it failed, as the students were simply sent to another school. All the thief did was force the students to wake up earlier, for the closest school with the necessary materials was at least half an hour from Takato's own school. Takato couldn't help but have a bad feeling about this...

"Oi, Takato."

Takato jolted, realizing he had zoned out; something he had been doing a lot lately. And most of the time it was thinking about a certain someone. Takato wondered what was up-there he went again. Zoning out. Mentally shaking himself, he turned his head looked at Kazu, replying, "Yeah?"

Kazu rolled his eyes and pointed in front of Takato. Takato looked forward and realized from Kenta waving at him from a distance that the line of students was moving. Grinning sheepishly, he ran up and the line behind him followed. Kenta laughed and jeered, "Way to pay attention Takato."

Takato only shrugged. "You know, I wonder what happen to Rika-"

"God damn it Takato," Kazu exclaimed, whacking him on the back of the head. "You've said that almost a million times, and every single time, either Kenta or me say we don't know. Jeez, we'll find out after we finish this stupid test."

Kenta pushed his glasses up, looking straight in Takato's eyes. "Yeah," Kenta cried, voicing his affirmation of Kazu's statement. "Why are you so impatient to know what's going on with Rika?"

"Uh..." Takato stammered, his face turning red.

"Its cause Takato has a crush on Rika!" Kazu shouted, drawing many stares from the other students nearby. He ignored them, singing, "Takato and Rika sitting in a tree; K-I-S-S-I-N-G,"

"I do not!" Takato shouted back, his face crimson with embarrassment and anger, as Kenta and Kazu roared with laughter. "God, you guys are impossible!"

Takato pushed his way up the line, getting away from Kazu and Kenta's raucous laughs. Kazu and Kenta were great friends, but they could get really immature and annoying. But Takato couldn't deny it; it certainly seemed like he had a crush on Rika. Even with his denials, Takato could not ignore that he really wanted to finish this test, not to draw more Digimon pictures, but to see what happen to Rika. He wondered where she was now, on this hot, Saturday morning. Unlike the rest of the main Tamers, Rika went to a private school. They had taken a slightly different test two weeks ago, so she was probably outside, enjoying her Saturday morning, listening to her I-Pod...

* * *

_I wish I was outside, enjoying my Saturday morning, listening to my I-Pod._

Rika Nonaka sighed; if wishes were horses, all beggars would ride. And last she had seen, the beggars were still horseless.

She was laying on her bed, belly-side down, reading the **Tamer Progress Report** written by Jeri Katou; or at least trying too. Everytime Rika read the title of the progress report, she kept thinking back to the interrogation that very morning...

* * *

_A couple hours earlier..._

On the outside, Rika looked perfectly fine. Her demeanor remained calm and solid, the only inclination that Rika heard the G-Woman was the slight raise in her thin eyebrows, the slight dilation of her black pupils in her lavender eyes and the slight bounce in Rika's ponytail as her ear twitched an inscrutable amount. But that was only to the eye of an outside observer.

Inside was a turbulent storm of emotion. Shock went through Rika entire body like the waves created by a dropping a stone in a pond. She felt small, insignificant. She felt terrible, ashamed of her actions. She felt terror at the words confiscation. She couldn't think; to lose Renamon was like losing her right arm, nay part of her soul. She didn't even know the government could do this to them. Her mind reeled, as the final statement of the G-Woman played in her head over and over again: _Rika Nonaka will no longer be a Tamer._

Her voice broke out from her closed lips, calm and steady, a complete contrast to the turmoil going inside. "Complete removal of all my Tamer rights?" Rika questioned.

The G-Woman nodded, and suddenly Rika's turmoil of emotion was blown away with anger. To be a Tamer was not a little, petty rank given by the government; this program was set up after she became Tamer. No, she was CHOSEN to be a Tamer, and not chosen by any human, but the Digital gnomes that rule the backdrop of the Digital World. Her D-Arc and Renamon were NOT little things the government could take as they please, and she would be damned if-

"But-" The G-Woman's cold voice broke through Rika's thoughts. Rika looked up and starred at her reflection in the black shades of the G-Woman. "The decision is not mine to make."

Rika mind froze. "What?"

The G-Woman shuffled her papers as she spoke; "I can merely recommend the punishment. I do not have the authority to decide what your punishment should be. That decision lies upon the head of the disciplinary branch of Hypnos II. However, I am sure my recommendation will be realized by Agent Fanatikku."

_Roiyaru Fanatikku._ Rika mentally trembled. She had befriended the massive man and knew there would be no mercy for her. Fanatikku was a man who believed in strict discipline, with no room for error or complaint. Orders were to be followed when given, no questions asked. That also applied to Fanatikku himself, and as this G-Woman was from the government inspection department, she had no doubt that Fanatikku would view her "recommendation" as an order; a correct assumption too, as recommendations from the inspection department were essentially orders, as they decided whether one keeps their job or not. And when she was being pinned down for insubordination...

She starred at the interrogation table and reached down to her belt, gripping her D-Arc with trembling hands. Might as well turn in it now; she was going to be banned.

* * *

Roiyaru Fanatikku saw Rika place her hand upon her D-Arc, ready to hand it in. She expected him to agree with the G-Woman, and ban her permanently from all Tamer programs. And he would normally agree; Fanatikku had worked with Kim Duong before, and while they were not friends, Fanatikku held a high level of respect for her and her decisions. She had proven numerous times before how wise her decisions were.

But this time he didn't agree. As he looked at the red-spiked, teenage girl, Fanatikku felt a wave of emotion crash through his body. It was as if he had been shocked, and the current ran down his body, as he saw, not the proud, rebellious Tamer that he had been so accustomed to. He saw only the young, teenage girl with an extremely mature and adult task placed upon her. He saw a tomboy, a child going through the bumpy area of life known as puberty, confused by new emotions flowing through her. And from all this, Fanatikku felt pity.

Pity? No, it wasn't pity. Fanatikku knew what pity was. Pity was when one stood over a broken, defeated enemy in a war, their life in your hands. He was accustomed to pity; he had stood over many broken opponents and felt that emotion before squelching it and crushing the life out of his enemies. But that was only in war. No, this emotion that rose from Fanatikku's stomach and pierced his heart was another emotion he had not experienced before.

Affection.

Fanatikku blinked. Yes, that was the word; affection. Fanatikku was an only child when he was a boy, and had lived in a neighborhood with no other children. He had friends in school, but not in the sense of close friends that he maintained communication with. He gained closer friends in life, but that was only because it's hard not to bond with the man fighting next to you for his own and your survival. Those friends were soldiers as well, like Fanatikku, and he had respect and loyalty to them, but certainly not affection. No, affection wasn't something that could be applied to friends. It was an emotion applied to someone younger than you, someone you looked over like a child.

Fanatikku was a single man, and therefore had no children. But as Fanatikku thought about, when he was around Rika Nonaka, he sometimes wondered; was this what it was like to have a child?

Because if it was...he liked it.

* * *

"I do not agree Miss. Duong," Fanatikku's deep voice boomed out, addressing the G-Woman by her name.

Rika's looked up with such speed, her neck cracked slightly. She ignored it as her eyes and pupils dilated; Fanatikku, the loyal Enforcer of the Hypnos II branch, the one who valued obedience and the chain of command as if they were the building blocks of foundations, disagreeing with a government inspector? She was surprised, no she was more than surprised, she was dumbfounded. This was a bombshell for Rika...and apparently for every other occupant in the room of three people, Rika and Fanatikku included. For due to the speed that Rika had pulled her head up, she had seen the reaction of the G-Woman upon hearing Fanatikku's profound statement.

A tick.

It was only for a split second, but Rika saw it. The G-Woman had moved a minuscule amount for an infinitesimal period of time, but it was enough for Rika to know; the G-Woman was as shocked as she was at Fanatikku's declaration and disagreement with her recommendation. And although Rika knew she didn't deserve it, she couldn't help but smirk that the "emotionless" G-Woman was knocked off guard by a loyal official over an "insubordinate" girl like her.

_You can't predict everything about me!_ Rika crowed mentally.

The G-Woman continued the interrogation. "What will the punishment be then, Mr. Fanatikku?" She asked, her voice as cold and emotionless as it always was.

Fanatikku frowned slightly at the change in title from 'Agent Fanatikku' to 'Mr. Fanatikku'. He replied, "Miss. Nonaka here has been a talented and hard-working Tamer, one of the four Tamers to enter into the depths of the monster known as the D-Reaper. She has demonstrated loyalty to the government and a firm belief in justice, never once backing down from her duty and responsibility to utilize her power and partner to protect and better the people of Japan and mankind. While her actions, especially in relation with the Elektra Incident were erroneous and deserving punishment, I do not believe that she should not be forgiven; after all everyone makes mistakes

"There is also a much larger problem that overshadows Rika's actions; the number of Tamers, or lack of. There are currently only seven full-fledged Tamers, with only six of them able to actively seek and destroy Wild Ones. Of those six, only Rika and three other Tamers have successfully bio-merged with her Digimon to become Mega-level Digimon and achieve a higher state of power. Additionally, at this moment, we have only two of those four Tamers in the city now; Rika and Takato. If we were to permanently ban or remove Rika's partner for a long period of time, we would only have one Bio-Tamer left to defend against higher-level emergences."

Fanatikku leaned closer to the table and the recorder, making his voice louder to emphasis the point. "So far we have only had rookies realize into this plane of existence. But as we have seen before with the failure of the Juggernaut problem, higher-level Digimon are able to cross into this realm. And I have no doubt they will come. It will those times we will need Tamers like Rika to combat them."

The G-Woman remained impassive. "Well said. But what will the punishment be then, Mr. Fanatikku?"

Fanatikku's reply was immediate; "Two week suspension from all Tamer duties without pay. Rika will be allowed to keep her D-Arc, but she will not be allowed on Hypnos II grounds or to respond to any Realizations. Furthermore, Renamon, Rika's partner, will be restricted from leaving Hypnos II ground, and Rika from entering Hypnos II territory."

Then, to Rika's surprise, the G-Woman nodded and replied, "Good." She pulled out a stamp and whacked a piece of paper and stood up and handed it to Fanatikku. Rika managed to get a glanced at it and saw that it was her profile sheet with the words **Punishment Approved** stamped in red at the top. The G-Woman walked back to her seat and spoke to the recorder.

"This was the interrogation of Rika Nonaka, questioned by Agent Duong and witnessed by Agent Fanatikku. For tampering with life-dependent materials, recklessness, and being a danger to those around her, Rika will be punished with a two-week suspension from Tamer activities. This ends the interrogation and court-martial of Rika Nonaka."

**Click**

The G-Woman turned off the recorder and Rika let out her breath, which she suddenly realized she had been holding. She starred at the table, letting what had just happen run through her head a couple of times; she had been lucky; lucky to befriend Fanatikku. Lucky that Fanatikku had disagreed with the G-Woman. A two week suspension was alright; Renamon needed the rest anyway. God, she couldn't stress what a lucky break this was.

_Oh well..._Rika thought to herself, smiling. _Every great fighter must have a little bit of luck._

"**Rika Nonaka**."

Rika tensed up and her smile froze; the voice that had spoken her name was cold, colder than any other voice Rika had heard before. It was like a sharp knife that cut through the air and made it twenty degrees below freezing. It was as if a piercing wind had flown through the room, causing Rika to shiver; her body was suddenly numb, as chills ran up and down her spine. Rika slowly looked up  
at the source of the voice.

It was the G-Woman, looking unchanged and emotionless as she starred at Rika through her dark shades. Yet at the same time, she didn't look the same. She look different, as if she had undergone some kind of transformation, but not one that changed her physical features, yet still changed her somehow. Rika didn't know what had changed in her, what the G-Woman had done, but it was powerful. So powerful, that it caused a feeling in her gut that pulled and tightened its grip upon her. It was this feeling that forced her to stare into the dark, depths of the glasses that hid the G-Woman's eyes. It was a feeling that could destroy even the strongest man, even a man as strong as Fanatikku, a feeling that could break any human, animal, or Digimon.

It was fear.

The G-Woman smiled, a smile with plenty of teeth, that sent multiple shivers down Rika's spine. "**I see that Fanatikku has lessened my punishment down to two weeks. Congratulations on your reprieve. How do you feel?"**

Rika opened her mouth, but no words came out as she trembled under the gaze and voice of this G-Woman. "**You must feel special to have escape with a lesser punishment,**" The G-Woman continued. "**Because now you don't have to face the consequences of your actions**.** The kind of feeling a school student gets when he or she gets away with breaking the rules, right?**"

The G-Woman leaned closer. "**But this isn't school or a game, little Rika. This is real life. You are not special. You are simple a little girl who has given a destructive power. And people get hurt in real life. People die in real life. Like in the Elektra Incident."**

Rika pupils dilated as the screams of the people getting crushed in the earthquake played in her ears. The screams that weren't of fear or pain, but that of a person waking from a nightmare, only to find the nightmare is not a creation of one's subconscious mind, but that of painful reality...

The Elektra Incident. All her fault. A fog of despair seemed to float in front of Rika's eyes, clouding and obscuring her vision. Rika left out a shaky breath, trying to calm herself But the G-Woman wasn't finished.

She walked around the table and leaned her head next to her ear, whispering, "**And next time, and there WILL be a next time, your punishment won't be decided by a fool who's befriend you. Next time, I will decide your punishment. Next time, you will receive what you deserve; you and your friends are foolish, immature children who have been given a power that is too large for you."**

And then the G-Woman whispered directly into her ear, "**Count on it."**

"That's enough Kim."

Rika felt a heavy hand on her right shoulder; she numbly looked up to see Fanatikku starring at G-Woman with an odd expression on his face, an expression that seemed to be a mixture of surprise and disgust, as if Fanatikku was seeing a side that he had not, nor ever wanted to see.

The G-Woman straightened up and smooth out her suit. "Of course. My apologies Miss. Nonaka," She said, her voice back to her normal, emotionless, flat tone. Rika nodded numbly as she starred at the opposite wall, unable to meet the lenses of the G-Woman. Her mouth formed the words of acceptance but no sound came out.

"I will take my leave now; I have more work to do. Good day Fanatikku," The G-Woman nodded to Fanatikku, who did not nod back, as he continued to stare at the G-Woman oddly. The G-Woman ignored his gaze, snapped her suitcase shut, and promptly left the interrogation room.

**Plink**

A drop of water fell upon Rika's right knuckle, shaking her out of her shock. She looked down, confused; where had the water come from?

Then the numbness disappeared from her body and she realized where the source of the water was; her eye. A single tear had fallen from her right eye, sliding down her face and falling onto her hand. She slowly whipped her wet cheek; even though it was only one tear, she couldn't remember the last time she had cried. What kind of woman was that lady...?

Her heart suddenly locked up as her ice cage rose around it and protected her from danger. She mentally shook herself; it did not matter what kind of woman that G-Woman was, she was already in the past and gone. She stood up and turned to Fanatikku, her face expressionless, as she calmly stated, in a neutral and emotionless voice, "Thanks Fanatikku, for changing the punishment."

Fanatikku rose an eyebrow at the sudden change in Rika's attitude; one second she seemed shell-shock, the next perfectly normal. How odd. He cleared his throat and looked into Rika's eyes through his shades. "What I said was what I believe you truly deserved. You simply made a mistake; I do not think you deserved to be punished for life for one mistake.

"However, you need to be more careful. I know all of you Tamers are teenagers now, and are going through a hard time right now. You're at the stage of life when everything starts changing, both physically and mentally, and it's hard to adjust. But the G-Woman was right when she said you guys have been given a power that really shouldn't be handled by children. You need to cease your insubordination Rika."

Rika glared at Fanatikku. "I'm not being insubordinate."

Fanatikku gave a humorous nod. "You're going through the rebellious stage of teenagers-"

"No I'm not." Rika replied instantly.

Fanatikku chuckled. "You're acting pretty rebellious now, you know that?"

"You're acting like an asshole, you know that?"

Fanatikku's face hardened and he admonish, in a hard voice, "Watch your tongue, young lady."

Rika continued glaring at him. "Not until you watch yours, Mr. You're-the-only-one-who-lost-her-Digimon."

Fanatikku face softened and he shifted uneasily a bit. "I know I shouldn't have said to Miss. Katou. Could you give my apologies to her?"

Rika walked past Fanatikku and stopped at the exit door. "Tell Jeri yourself." She snapped, before walking away, leaving Fanatikku alone with his own thoughts.

* * *

_Damn._ As Rika thought about, maybe she shouldn't have been so rude to Fanatikku; after all, he had turned a life-time ban to a two week suspension. Still, Fanatikku's comment to Jeri had been an extremely low blow, and she had been extremely angry at the end of that damn interrogation.

_Angry?_ Rika suddenly realized she hadn't been angry. She had been...frightened?

_Nah, what am I thinking?_ Rika admonished herself. _Frightened...hah!_

Still, Rika could not deny that the G-Woman had freaked her out. Her voice, so cold and chilly, was like a knife plunged into her chest. It was like a chilling wind that had completely numbed her body, and-

Rika panned her eyes downward and looked at the **Tamers Progress Report**, trying to distract herself. She didn't want to remember her encounter with the G-Woman. On the contrary, she wanted to burn it from her memory, and never meet that freaky woman again.

Rika sighed. There she went again, getting distracted. Since she was suspended from Tamer activities, Rika thought she might as well read the report complied by Jeri Katou on the current Tamer situation, something she had never found the time to do before (though Rika knew deep down that it had more to do with the fact that she really didn't want to read the long and boring reports about something she could just go out and fight...but she digress). She opened the packet and flipped to a random page.

**TRAINS (_Teimāzu_ Reasoning Analytical Informative Neurological System)**

Section 1: Understanding Digimon

No one knows who the first Tamer was; Digimon and Tamer have appeared in other countries besides  Japan, making it impossible to know for sure who was the first to receive their D-Arc. However, due to power influxes read by Hypnos I and other countries counterpart departments, we do know that the first three Tamers to digivolve their Digimon are residing and protecting Japan as we speak.

These power fluxes are the byproduct of rapidly changing data, evolving and changing form and retrogressing back to machine language. It is this data that makes up Digimon and the Digital World, the data that defines their every actions and thoughts. They hold the key to understanding Digimon, holding every single piece of data that composes Digimon. However, reading this data is not an easy task; it can not be manipulated, intercepted, or molded by any outside force to change its original composition. It is essentially untouchable and unreadable, only detectable in great burst.

Or so it was thought. Gorou Mizuno aka. Shibumi, the lead programmer of the Monster Makers, did not agree. In the time he spent in the Digital World, Shibumi delved into the great depths that made up the D-Arc. Although he only scratched the surface of the device, he discovered enough to design a program to detect and rudimentally compile the data that made up the Digimon and their world. The idea was to be able to understand and predict every action and though in the Digital World.

This goal has not been reached, and most likely will not be reached until millennium later; Digital monster are essentially living, sentient creatures, much like humans, except composed of data. We have not discovered every single aspect and function of the human body; what chance do we have of a huge Digital race, composed of billions of different individual creatures with their own unique build-up, constantly changing and evolving? However, Shibumi's research was not wasted; for in it, a machine was created; TRAINS.

Section 2: The Tamer connection

A knock on the door caused Rika to jump; she hadn't heard any footsteps towards the door. She had expected this Tamer report to be incredibly boring, but she was finding herself highly interested in the information it contained. Unusual, as Rika was exactly fond of reading, but then again, this packet contained very essential knowledge to Digimon Tamers. Plus, Jeri was a pretty good a writer.

Another knock elicited a, "Come in" from Rika. The door slide opened, revealing Rika's grandmother, Seiko Hata. She was an old woman with grey hair hanging loosely in its short cut. Age lines wrinkled across the woman's kind face, and her blue eyes twinkled with a spark often found in the eyes of those much younger then this woman.

"You don't have to knock, Grandma," Rika said, sitting up. Rika's grandmother was the only other soul in the house, with Renamon at Hypnos II and her mother preparing for some concert. Rika's relation with her mother had improved immensely after the D-Reaper incident, but it was Seiko that Rika was closest to. After all, it was Seiko that had taken care of Rika ever since her father had left; she was the one Rika felt most comfortable with, even more than when her father had taken care of her. If there was anyone that knew Rika, it was Rika's grandmother.

"I thought you needed some time alone. I wanted to give you the option of turning me away if necessary," Seiko stated calmly, entering the room.

Rika turned slightly red from a combination of shame and guilt. When Rika had returned to Hypnos II, her grandmother had been awake, waiting for her to return. Rika loved her grandma immensely, but it was only at times like these that Rika truly appreciated how calm and patient Seiko was, her age tempering her temper. Rika had informed her Seiko of her actions, leaving nothing out, the truth spilling out of her like water from a pitcher. She, however, could not continue when it came to telling Seiko of her punishment, and had settled with giving the government paper detailing the outlines of her disciplinary action.

Her grandmother had read the paper dictating the details of her suspension, and instead of becoming enraged, Seiko had sighed and told Rika to go to bed; which Rika had done so quite willingly, being tired and glad to leave the room. Rika hoped she wouldn't need to talk about the punishment, but clearly it was a foolish dream.

But Rika wasn't one to give up that easily. "Are you leaving?" She asked, indicating to her grandmother's attire. Seiko, being the epitome of stay-home woman, was almost always garbed in a cooking apron. However, at the moment, she was dressed in a simple, but formal, blue dress.

"Yes, I'm on my way to the airport. My flight to Sendai will be leaving in about two hours," Seiko replied, in a tone that showed she was clearly not fooled by Rika's attempt to change the subject. Seiko had received a message from her brother in Sendai, Rika's great-uncle, that he was sick. Her grandmother, the senior of the family, had booked a flight to Sendai and would be traveling there to take care of her brother until he recovered. This was good for Seiko, as she had not seen her brother in a week. However, this was bad for Rika, as it left her by herself with her mother. And while Rika loved her mother, things were a bit tense between them ever since her mother's decision...

"But that's not what I came here to discuss," Seiko continued. Rika made a grimace; she tried. Her grandmother ignored her scowl; "I came here to talk about why you threw your life and Renamon's in such great peril."

Annoyance crept onto Rika's face as her scowl deepened. She didn't want to talk about this. "Look, I don't know why I did it! I guess I did it because I just wanted to fight! Or because I'm going through a 'phase'!"

Seiko made no indication to Rika's outburst. She walked and sat down next to Rika, putting her arms around her, in the form of a hug. Rika made no response, except to pointedly turn her head from her grandmother. "Rika, I know you're angry about your mother's decision-"

Rika scowled even more; as if Grandma needed to remind her about things to come. Her grandmother continued, "And your mother did act a bit rashly-" _Damn right she did! _Rika shouted mentally. "-But you don't need to prove yourself to anyone."

"I'm not trying to prove myself at all!" Rika suddenly snapped, suddenly turning her head and glaring at her grandmother.

Seiko soft face filled Rika's eyes, the surprise on her face only outdone by the surprise on Rika's own face. The scowl was gone, replaced with an expression of confusion; Rika's outburst had surprised even herself. She had been perfectly fine a second ago, and then suddenly she was enraged beyond all means. _What is up with me?_ Rika thought confused.

Rika looked down at her feet, ashamed. Her grandmother was the one person in her entire world that remained at her side, looking out for her. She was trying to help; why did Rika feel so angry? "Sorry," Rika mumbled to her feet.

Seiko demonstrated her amazing patience by smiling and hugging Rika more tightly. This time, Rika did not ignore her, but snugged in closer. Seiko's body was extremely warm and comfortable. It reminded her, inexplicably, of a person she once knew.

Her father...

Rika must have tensed up, because Seiko released her hold of Rika and stood up. "Well, I must go now. Try not to fight too much with your mother."

Rika smiled, hiding her disappointment at the ending of the hug. "It'll be difficult, but I'll try my hardest. No promises though."

"Well promise me one thing Rika."

Rika looked up; her grandmother's voice was serious. "What?" She asked, cautiously.

"Do not leave this home to fight Digimon."

Rika burst out into wild laughter. "Oh, that's all? Ha! You don't have to worry!" She managed to say in-between her laughs.

"I do worry Rika," Seiko said, her voice serious. Rika's laughs subsided as she looked even more warily at her grandmother. "Promise me that you won't go and fight. Please."

Rika's was shocked; there was undertone of pleading in her grandmother's voice that she had never heard before. Seiko's blue eyes looked into her own, pleading for her to heed her words. "I promise Grandma." Rika declared.

Seiko face broke into a smile. "Now give your grandmother a good-bye hug!"

She held her arms out. Rika laughed happily; she jumped up and hugged her grandmother, tightly before untangling herself. Seiko patted her on the cheek, and then exit the room. Rika ran to the door and popped her head out, shouting down the hallway, "Say 'hi' to great-uncle for me!"

"I will!" Her grandmother shouted over her shoulder, before disappearing around the corner. A few minutes later, the slam of the front door closing could be heard. Rika closed her own room door, the joy in her face gone as she lay back on her bed. It was replaced by a pensive look, as Rika reflected her grandmother's worry.

_Why did she make me promise not to fight Digimon? I can't anyone, since I'm suspended, and I wouldn't do it because I'll just get in trouble again. Also, more importantly, Renamon needs her rest._

Rika stretched her arms and legs out, groaning as her sore body protested the motion. She needed some rest as well; she had barely gotten any sleep last night. Picking up the Tamer Report packet from her bed, she absentmindedley placed it on her desk; her mind was filled with thoughts about her grandmother's odd request.

_Well, it's not really that odd, _Rika realized, as she laid in her bed. Her grandmother was probably just worried about her that's all. Yeah, that was probably it.

Rolling over in her mat, Rika's exhausted mind quickly fell asleep, leaving doubts behind as she entered the world of dreams.

* * *

The room was tense.

The massive red dinosaur-like Digimon known as Guilmon stood at the table, foregoing the chair. He was about five and a half feet, but only if he stood erect. He was hunched over slightly, making him relatively the same height as his partner Takato. His massive tail lay curled around his feet, and the Digital Hazard symbol that marked the middle of his chest was partly obscured by the edge of the large, steel black table. A small huff could be heard as he breathed out of nostrils, two tiny puffs of smoke flying out.

Guilmon's feral yellow eyes narrowed, his black pupils glaring at the other three Digimon that stood or sat the table. He focused in on the Digimon to his immediate left; a huge Guardromon stood. The robotic Digimon was even larger than Guilmon, even when Guilmon stood at his fullest height, and his body was a great deal more massive. His entire body was composed of solid steel, with two rocket jets mounted upon his back. He too stood, for it was more comfortable and there were no chairs in the direct vicinity large or strong enough to hold his large bulk.

Guilmon shifted his gaze to the Digimon next to him. At first glance, one would think he was the Digimon Impmon, the digital partner of the toddler Tamers, Ai and Mako. The mistake was understandable; after all the Digimon was an Impmon. He looked exactly like an Imp, with the same purple fur and point ears as the known Impmon. He had the pointed ears and short tail that barely manage to reach down to his feet.

Yet there were key differences between this Impmon and the Impmon that could reach the level of Beelzemon. Whereas that Impmon was garbed in a red bandana and red gloves, this Impmon had black mittens. Instead of a red bandana, this Impmon had a thick woolen scarf wrapped around his neck. It was composed of blue and black stripes.

This Scarf Impmon, who preferred to call himself Zurui, was one of the new rookie's partners. He had become a partner to his equally new Tamer, Akira, two months ago. Guilmon had not met Zurui's Tamer yet; in fact, it was two weeks ago when Guilmon had met Zurui, and confused him with Impmon. However, two weeks was more than enough time to realize how different Zurui was from Impmon. While Impmon was loud and rude, Zurui was soft-spoken and very polite. He was easy to befriend and was a great Digimon to hang around. Guilmon liked him

Guilmon turned his gaze to the last occupant at the table; Calumon. He was the smallest Digimon currently in the room, though only Zurui was only a little bit taller than him. However, his short stature only aided him; combined with his soft, white fur and his huge green eyes, he was the epitome of cuteness. While most others wish for such beauty to attract the opposite sex, for Calumon, it was a necessity; he had no fighting skills at all. Luckily, thanks to his cuteness and his ability to digivolve other Digimon, he was protected by the Tamers.

Or at least Hypnos II. Guilmon and the others would protect Calumon even if he didn't have those abilities; they had already proven that by adventuring into the digital world to rescue Calumon without knowing that it was he that held the power to digivolution. They did it because he was their friend.

And he was Guilmon's friend especially; he was really fun to play with! This was why Guilmon narrowed his eyes even more at Calumon, who's normally large ears were small, his large eyes squinted as he starred at Guilmon back.

Guilmon growled. The nerve of Calumon! It was time to crush him.

"Do you have any threes Calumon?" Asked Guilmon.

Calumon's ears grew as he smiled. "Goldfish!" Calumon replied in a sing-song voice.

Guilmon groaned as he reached a claw out to draw a card. He had two cards left, both of them "threes". All he needed was two more threes, and then he would win Goldfish for the first time! Guardromon had won three games, Zurui five games, and Calumon eight games. Guilmon had never been this close before, and now he had to draw another card.

He picked up the card. A three.

Guilmon couldn't help it. He shouted in delight, "YIPPIE I CAN STILL WIN!"

"SHHHHHH!"

Simultaneously, Guardromon and Calumon bent over the table, brought a finger to their mouth, and hushed Guilmon. Guilmon gave a look of confusion then glanced over Guardromon's shoulder.

Renamon was standing a bit of distance away from Guardromon, leaning against the wall with her eyes close. Renamon had done this many times before; whenever the Digimon met together to play cards, Renamon would always lean against a wall and close her eyes, pretending to sleep. Though the rookies like Zurui were fooled, Guilmon and the Main Digimon knew that Renamon wasn't actually sleeping. She was either meditating or simply listening to the conversations.

Today was not one of those times. Guilmon knew Renamon enough now to know when she was meditating and when she was sleeping. And right now, she was out cold.

"Oh. Sorry" Guilmon whispered, shrinking a little.

A look of confusion crossed Zurui's face. "Wait a minute. She is asleep now? I was lead to believe Renamon only simulated sleep during the day."

Guardromon turned to Zurui, "You didn't hear about what happened?"

Zurui shook his head. "I apologize; my partner and I are one of the lower Tamers. We do not receive the same information as you. Could you tell me what has transpired?"

Guilmon cut in before Guardromon could speak. "Let's talk about something else," Guilmon's normally childish voice was unnaturally serious. He gave a pointed stare at Zurui, continuing, "It's Renamon's business."

An awkward silence filled the air, as Zurui shifted uneasily under the fierce gaze of Guilmon. Guardromon looked bewildered, his head turning from Guilmon and Zurui back, confused as to when Guilmon had become this serious. Guilmon ignored Guardromon's moving head, and continue to stare at a nervous Zurui, who tried to avoid eye contact.

After what seemed like an eternity, Calumon suddenly spoke, breaking the silence. "Poor Renamon," He said, his ears shrinking. He looked down sad for a few moments before looking up and stretching out his ears. "But she wouldn't want us to fight over her problems, right?"

Guilmon blinked, looking over at Calumon as he starred directly at him, his green eyes stretched to their maximum length, providing a frightening image. Guilmon mentally shook at the sight, but nodded on the outside. "You're right Calumon." He looked at Zurui again. "I believe it's your turn Zurui."

Zurui face broke into a smile, obviously relieved that the awkward silence had been broken and Guilmon had stopped starring at him. He picked up his cards and the game continued.

* * *

He entered the dark building, breathing in the air that was instilled in this place. It was dimly lit by a four flaming fires that hung in the air with no visible support; it was simply fire hovering about five feet above the dusty ground. These floating fires hung in four corners, forming a square.

He stepped closer and looked down at the floor inside the square; a small, perfect circle of six feet was drawn directly in the middle of a massive twenty foot circle, which touched the borders of the square. In-between the small circle and large circle, fancy curls flourished through, filling the space up. As close to art as they would get.

He looked around; he wasn't old enough to remember when this building was created; that was long, long before his time. He was, however, old enough to remember when it was rebuilt, destroyed in the war that had exploded in the land. He was old enough to remember the pain staking precision used to mark the location with the circles. The flourishes were added in later, by those bored and dishearten with the lack of progress.

He remembered that as well. Progress. This building was one of the many makers doted around the world. The small circle upon the ground represented a very special spot in the world, only seen in a few other locations in the massive world.

A spot where the veil between the worlds was weak.

This building, when rebuilt, had been filled with hundreds, all trying to break through. The hope had driven those to try and break the impossible. A vain dream. Years had been devoted trying to open the way, and most likely hundred of years had been spent on the same task before, in the original building...which he doubted was the original. Most likely it was another reconstruction from another war. Heh, it seemed with every reconstruction, the hope of breaking through was revived.

By now, however, they had realized that it was it hopeless to try. The room was completely empty; not a single soul remained, though most likely it was empty because word of his coming had caused all those to vacate. There were always those who never gave up, despite it being impossible. No matter how many times in the past it had failed, hopefuls believed in new times.

In fact, he mused, by being here he could be considered one of those hopefuls. But he knew he was not one of those hopefuls, and everyone else knew that. No doubt, thousands were outside of this building, waiting, and seeing if he could break the impossible laws that govern this world.

Impossible. He knew it wasn't anymore. Not with the new Lord that had risen. Now the impossible, was possible. His Lord contained powered unseen before in the world, power that could crush all. His Lord was...

A God.

Of course, there were always skeptics. Another war was brewing over the horizon, as foolish others band together and opposed his Lord's position as rightful leader of the world. These skeptics could easily be destroyed by his Lord, but they had forces that would continue to fight even if their leaders were killed, leading to long and bloody conflict. His Lord was merciful; he did not enjoy war. He wanted to avoid bloodshed. Should this succeed, should they break the impossible, the skeptics would lose all their support. Their armies would desert them, allowing his Lord to easily destroy the skeptics. Should this succeed, his Lord's rightful position as God in the world would be cemented for eternity.

He was willing to give his life for this to succeed, but he knew he would not need to; it would succeed, for his Lord was a God.

"I am ready, My Lord." He declared to seemingly thin air, his deep and gruff voice echoing across the walls of the room.

**"Then prepare yourself," **The Voice immediately responded out of nowhere. **"For the Real World."**

**Boom. **

And the patch of air seemed to shimmer for a split second before it exploded. He raised his arms to cover himself from the explosion, his armor protecting him from any damage. He lowered his arms and gasped.

There, before him, in the place where the small circle was drawn, lay no more floor. He had seen many sights in his time, but none like the one before him. For in the circle lay an entire new world, one that was for him to explore.

And conquer.

He walked closer to the hole and bent down. He took a deep breath of the air that constituted the Real World. He breath deeply, his chest expanding as he took in the air, his armor creaking as it strained against the pressure. He slowly let it out, breathing through the openings in his mask for his nose.

The Real World smelled good.

It was time. Time to begin the new order. Time for the first of his kind to step into the Real World of the creators. Time for them to show their true might.

Time for his Lord to become God of all worlds.

He took a step and became the first of his kind to place a foot in the Real World.

* * *

And around the world, six heads snapped up.

"What the hell...?" Takato Matsuki's whispered, his teeth clattering as his body shook. He suddenly felt cold, as if he had been just jumped into icy water. Kazu and Kenta, who were sitting next to him in the middle of a massive body of students, looked over concern.

"Yo, Takato you okay?" Kazu asked, eyeing Takato's shivering body with concern.

"J-j-j-ust c-c-c-old," Takato whispered back. It was weird; it was over thirty degrees Celsius outside, and despite the air conditioning, there was over three hundred students in the massive room they were in now. He should not be feeling cold; he should be sweating like all the other students.

An expression of shock came over Kazu's sweaty face. "That's weird...I thought I felt a cold draft."

"Yeah," Kenta agreed, pushing up his glasses. "I felt it also. But it wasn't cold enough to make my entire body shiver..."

Takato shrugged. "I don't know, I just have a bad feeling-"

"Hey! You three! Stop talking or we're throwing you out!"

Takato, Kazu and Kenta complied, returning their attention to their respective test, the odd coldness drifting to the back of their minds as they attempted to improve their educational career.

* * *

And in the same building, a couple of rooms down, Jeri Katou was interrupted by from her test due to a massive coughing fit. Others around her took their gazes off their test as they looked over at Jeri, who continued dryly coughing.

"Are you alright, miss?" An administrator asked, approaching Jeri as close as he could in the masses of students.

Jeri waved him off. "I'm fine, I just have a cold," She whispered, holding her throat. The administrator nodded then turned to the others students and telling them to return to their test.

Jeri looked down back her test, sniffing and massaging her throat; she certainly had a cold. Which was odd, since when she entered this testing facility about half an hour ago, she was perfectly fine. There was also the fact that it over thirty degrees...

_I have a bad feeling about this..._

* * *

Across the globe, on a separate island famous for its warm, hot beaches, laid a young boy with wavy black hair. He was garbed in only swimming trunks as he lay on the soothing, comfortable sand, a pair of sunglasses shielding his eyes from the bright sunlight. He looked to be sleeping as two small creatures ran around him; both were about the same height and had long ears that came down to their feet, making them looking to be the same race, had it not been for a few differing features. One of them was light brown with green strips, a single horn adorning its head. The other was dark brown with purple strips, possessing three horns on the top its head.

"You can't catch me Lopmon!" The green stripped creature shouted to the dark brown creature, his voice squeaky.

"It's you can't who can't catch me Terriermon!" Lopmon squealed back, as both Terriormon and Lopmon, Digimon as the "mon" endings implied, continued running around in a circle. Their peals of laughter intertwined in the air, creating a scene of amusement.

The laughter subsided as the two creatures ceased their running as the boy suddenly sat up and took off his shades, breathing hard. The two creatures exchanged glances and approached the boy. "What's wrong Henry?" Terriermon asked.

Henry Wong didn't respond, his head was filled with confusing thoughts. He held up his hand and breathed against it.

He could see his breath. He could see his breath vapor on a hot beach in the middle of Hawaii.

_What the heck...? _Was the all Henry could think.

* * *

And in an entirely different location, a young boy stood in a pitch black location; or seemingly pitch black. One could clearly see the way his wavy brown hair curled up, akin to Saiyan-jins in another Universe. He was dressed in a bluish-grey shirt, a short black robe over his green pants. A single light-brown glove adorned his left hand, his right hand covered by an odd metal contraption that looked like a metallic forearm. A right shoulder pad sat beneath his red scarf, the red matching the tops of his white shoes.

Behind the boy, one could also clearly see a huge black dragon-like creature towered over him, as it stood on its two hind legs. Four mighty red wings lay curled on its back, wrapped around a black tail that dragged behind the beast.

Ryo Akiyama turned to Cyberdramon, his expression confused. "Did you just feel a draft, Cyberdramon?"

Cyberdramon grunted. "You're worried about a cold draft at a time like this?" His voice came out in a feral growl.

Ryo shrugged. "Just asking. Must have been my imagination."

* * *

Rika couldn't move.

She had been dozing off when it hit; an odd change of feeling. Although she did not know it, it hit at the exact same time it hit the rest of the Main Tamers. But while the reaction of the Main Tamers ranged from shivering trembles and breath vapor to feeling of a slight draft, Rika's was quite different.

For a brief second she felt a spike of cold; her eyes opened from the chill before it was suddenly gone. In its stead, she felt quite fuzzy and warm. Extremely warm. Her eyes closed as she began falling asleep again.

Then she was jolted awake when her breath became short and shallow; she couldn't breath at all. She sat up and looked down at her hands; they were there, but she couldn't feel them at all. It was as if she never had them despite the fact that she could see them right in front of her face.

And as she thought that, her fingers began turning blue.

"What the..." Rika gasped out, before her voice caught. Her breath became even more erratic, as her lungs tried to draw in my air. The warm, fuzzy feeling disappeared, and was replaced instantly by a chill even worst than the first time. Her numb hands flew to her throat as it constricted from the cold. The more it constricted, the less space there felt in her throat, making it seem as if something was blocking her wind pipe. Rika's body responded instantly; she began coughing.

Coughing, but not like Jeri was coughing. Not like the coughing caused from a cold or sore throat. The cough sounded like the coughs belonging to people who smoked three packs of cigarettes a day for the last twenty years. It sounded like she was trying to cough up her lungs.

And then her body became colder.

Her whole body shivered as her vital organs began reflexively to make rapid small movements, in an attempt to create energy and heat. Her hands became even more blue as her veins popped out due to their constriction; blood was being pumped from her hands into her body to keep her vital organs warm. Goosebumps popped all over her body, as her hair rose to its end, trying to create a semi-insulating layer around her.

Rika collapsed on all fours as she heaved, and coughed even harder. Blood spattered her floor as her body continued to try and defend against the spreading cold. The room spun as Rika's thoughts became foggy.

_Numb hands...coughing...shivering...goosebumps..._ Rika knew that all these signs were related knew that she knew what it all meant. She knew somewhere in her head that all these were symptoms for something...but she couldn't remember.

_Hypothermia..._

Rika rolled over on to her back, as she tried to control her breathing. She knew what was happening; she was in the first stage of hypothermia. How she got into this stage, she did not know; she couldn't think. All she knew is she needed help. She needed someone to warm her up before she entered stage two.

_Renamon..._

But it was hopeless. There was no air to breath. She couldn't believe it, but she was going to die. There was no one to help her or save her; she was alone...

And then suddenly it was gone. The feeling in her hands returned as blood rushed back and her shivering came to a halt. Her whole body began to feel warmer and warmer as the cold disappeared. Her breathing, though still shallow, was not as erratic. Her throat loosened up and her coughing ceased.

She lurched up, stuck her head out of her bedroom window, and barfed.

* * *

Deep within the Hypnos II compound, buried beneath the massive walls that created the exterior of the massive human building, lay a room. It was a massive globe, its interior composed completely of monitor screens that connected together to make a massive screen to display information. It was large in relation to the typical room sizes of United State houses, massive in comparison to the rooms of Japan, but it was nothing compared to many of the other rooms within Hypnos II. Yet if one were to remove every single excess room that did not serve the Hypnos II's purpose, to track and handle emerges, then one would only have this room left. The Control Room.

Within The Control Room, two black chairs were extended into the middle of the room, supported by black, steel remote arms. These chairs were not built for comfort; it was built for work. All space that could be used for cushions was occupied by electronics and computers, leaving only a small spot for a human operator to sit within the jumble of machinery and utilize it efficiently.

Riley Ootori was one of those occupying one of The Chairs. Dress in a plain, white lab suit (which thankfully was quite comfortable), her long, red hair tied back, she didn't really mind the uncomfortable seat. Sure, it could get pretty terrible during the long stretches of day, (the job was done in twelve hour shifts, with two operators working per shift), and when there was no activity, the boredom threatened to kill her. Yet this was an important duty, one that few people had the capacity to do.

There were many factors that had to be considered when one wanted to be an operator. Hanging here in the middle of The Control Room, the operator's duty was to sit at these consoles with computer goggles on, monitoring the activity between the Digital World and Shinjuku. This was not an easy task to do; first one had to endure the twelve hour shifts, which began at one A.M. and ended at one P.M.

Next, an operator was required to wear computer goggles at all times while working. These goggles allowed one to utilize the screens through eye movements and speech. These goggles were difficult to get use to, and could easily tire those who did not use it to its fullest potential. However, not only was it required by the Hypnos II, it was a necessity when Digital activity picked up. Speed was essential when imputing commands on the computer. With lives hanging on every second wasted, it was a necessity for an operator to utilize both keyboard and computer goggles to get analyze and send information through as quickly as possible.

Last, an operator needed to have a sharp and quick analytical eye; an ability to understand a situation and react accordingly was essential for this job. While many people could complete the first two task, it was only people like Riley who could do the deed effectively. And Riley had proved herself before; she was one of the most experienced Hypnos II operators, having operated in the early days, back with Hypnos I, when the program was still new and secretive, and the primary method of eliminating Wild Ones was the Yuggoth Program. Even more impressively, she had been one of the two operators on duty when the Juggernaut Program created by Mitsuo Yamaki had been turned on, managing the systems in the overwhelming numbers of incoming Digimon, enduring their screams and working diligently to maintain Hypnos' super computer.

_Mitsuo Yamaki_. Riley let out a content sigh; Mitsuo was an amazing man. Of course he had his shortcomings; his pride had created the Juggernaut program which threw those inabilities into sharp light. However, he had enough humility to learn from his mistakes, starting Hypnos II and rectifying his errors. He was one of the main reasons why Riley stayed through the bumpy period of Hypnos I and continued to work at Hypnos II.

In fact, their relation had really hit off after the D-Reaper had been elimnated. Riley remembered in vivid detail what she and Mitsuo had been doing two nights ago, quite alone in their home...

"Riley."

The sharp utterance of her name was enough to jolt Riley from her memories of her intimate encounter with Mitsuo in the privacy of their room. She quickly responded to the speaker with out looking; "What is it Tally?"

As mentioned before, operators worked in pairs on their twelve hour shifts. Riley's partner was the exuberant, blond-haired Tally Onodera. Although she also wore computer goggles that obscured her facial features from others, Riley knew that Tally was worried; she had been partnered with Tally long enough to recognize what emotional states she was in by just listening to her, and Tally could do the same to Riley. Tally was also an experienced operator, starting around the same time as Riley and working with her ever since. She too had been operating during the activation of the Juggernaut Program. Her cheerful attitude was more than enough for Riley to befriend her in the long, lonely hours of operating.

At the moment, however, Tally's voice was deadly serious, with the hint of worry. "I'm picking up some really odd signals, stuff I've never seen before. Are you getting the same information?"

Riley pulled up the appropriate screens. Power readings were low as usual, but there was an odd signal zigzagging across the detector. "I see it. Think I should call Yamaki?"

Tally could be heard typing furiously into her keyboard. "Well, the power levels are really low right now, so I'm not too sure-"

And then everything went to hell.

The room exploded with sirens and alarms, the blue monitors flashing red as the computer assessed the situation. Computer windows immediately popped up, displaying information and power. The previously low power-levels had literally _exploded_, the energy meter pushing to the brim.

"What the hell?!" Tally shouted. "Power levels are going crazy!"

"This isn't good!" Riley shouted back. "We need to get Yamaki over here! We got something really big stewing!"

And then the flashing lights all turned off as the computer completed it assessment of the situation. Upon the large monitor and the monitors of the computer goggles and the computer screens of the Chairs the project information was displayed.

Riley froze. "Impossible..." She whispered. It couldn't be happening! It never happened before.

"Riley..." Tally said, her voice full of panic. "What do we do? This is the worst possible day for something like this to happen! We don't have any of the Main Tamers in direct vicinity!"

Riley breathed out, already deciding what to do. There was no other choice. "Send the signal."

"**The** signal?" Tally put an emphasis on "the".

"Yes," Riley replied, already bringing up the program that would send **the **signal. To send this signal, two operators consent would be needed; from both Riley and Tally.

"Are you crazy!? We only have rookies here! We'll be sending them to their deaths!"

Riley suddenly realized this must have been how Yamaki felt when faced with the rising threats of the Wild Ones. This was why he had turned to using the Juggernaut program. He had to make a hard choice.

And now it was Riley's turn to make a hard choice.

"Send it Tally."

May God hope that she was not about to create another Juggernaut incident.

* * *

DOOPDOOPDOOPDOOPDOOPDOOPDOOP!

The loud beeping echoed across the silent room, causing everyone in the area to jump at the sudden noise. Takato, Kazu, and Kenta simultaneously pulled out their beeping D-Arcs, exchanging worried glances. This was not the normal, calm beeping that occurred as usual when alarms happened. They were not expecting to hear an alarm at all in the first place, as Hypnos II would have known they were currently taking a national test, and would have sent other Tamers to do the job. No, this alarm was high pitch and fierce, couple along with an intense vibration. Though they had never witnessed this before, they knew what this signal was; full high alert alarm.

Without a single word, Takato flicked his D-Arc on and read the words on the display.

**Connecting...**

**D-Arc connection recognized. User: Takato Matsuki.**

**Situation: Wild One Bioemergence**

**Digimon: Gaiomon**

**Type: Dragon Man Digimon**

**Attribute: Virus**

**Special Attack: Unknown**

**Biological Characteristics: Unknown**

**Power: Mega Level**

**Threat level: High**

**Recommended Number of Tamers: N/A**

**Recommended Course of Action: Contact the Main Tamers.**

It had finally happened. A mega level had appeared. _Well,_ though Takato, nonchalantly. _It was bound to happen._ Takato wasn't really worried; they had taken on worst before.

"A mega level, huh?" He said to Kazu and Kenta, packing his stuff away.

"Yeah man! About time we got some higher level action!" Kazu said, thrusting his cap on.

"You guys..."

Takato and Kazu looked over at Kenta, who was looking queasy. "Don't tell me you're scared Kenta?" Kazu demanded.

Kenta shook his head. "No, you guys don't understand. The mega is at Shinjuku."

"Yeah, so- Oh shit." Takato said, freezing as he realized what Kenta meant.

"What?" Kazu asked, looking from both Takato to Kenta, confused. "What's wrong?"

"Kazu, it takes about half an hour to get to our school from here. This mega is farther than that. Which means that Shinjuku, for more than half an hour, will be defended by-"

"Rookies only." Kazu finished Kenta's sentence with a look of horror on his face.

The testing administrator walked over. "What's the problem?" He said, his face crossed. "Are you students leaving?"

Tick. Takato, Kazu and Kenta looked at each other in silence.

"Hello?" The administrator said, waving his hand at them.

The action seemed to galvanize them, as they suddenly jumped on top of the desk, leaving their bags behind and started running, jumping from desk to desk towards the entrance, the realization that they're city was in grave danger pushing them to get home as fast as they could.

Their troubles had just begun.

* * *

She felt it.

Renamon's eyes snapped open at the exact same time the three Digimon all froze in mid card game. They all felt it, for they were Digimon, and if it was powerful enough, they could feel each other from massive distances. And there was no mistakening the massive power surge and the enormous power that had entered the Real World close by.

A mega.

"What...what is this power?" Asked an unfamiliar voice. Renamon glanced over at the table and recognized the speaker as Zurui, one of the new Tamer Digimon. He had a sickly look on his face, one associated with those about to barf. The image was only enforced by the fact that his gloved hands were holding his stomach.

"A mega level Digimon," Hissed Guardromon, his voice echoing in his helmet.

Calumon's ears shrunk to their smallest size as he whispered worrily, "Oh no..."

Guilmon growled. "Don't worry Calumon, we can handle him."

Renamon walked towards the table. "How? You and Guardromon can't digivolve without Kazu and Takato, Calumon here isn't a fighter, and Zurui can't compete at that level of power."

She looked over at the Impmon. "No offense, but I doubt you can even beat a Rookie Wild One."

Zurui shook his head. "No offense taken. But if you can not digivolve and reach a higher state of power, then we are going to need to use large amount of lesser power rookies. If that is the case, my Tamer and his classmates will be called into action."

As confirming his words, red lights began flashing and the screech of the siren could be heard. The red light was only used when the signal for total call was used; all active Tamers were to report to the Hypnos II briefing room to be prepped for battle.

Guilmon growled even louder. "I said don't worry Zurui. You and your buddies are too weak; you'll get slaughtered. Guardromon and me will head to Takato and the others and catch them on their way back; they'll be on their way back cause of the alarm."

Renamon was impressed; Guilmon seemed to have grown a lot smarter since the first time she met him. She nodded in agreement to their plan. "Rika and I can fight the mega while you boys do that."

Guardromon immediately jumped in front of Renamon as she moved to the door, blocking her path. She looked at him surprised. "What are you doing Guardromon?"

Guardromon looked straight into her eye. "I'm sorry Renamon, but I can't allow you to leave."

"What do you mean!?" Renamon exclaimed, enraged. "There's a mega on the loose!"

Guardromon remained steady. "Renamon, look at the facts. You can't possibly fight a mega in the state you're in now. You've been fighting non-stop for the last two weeks, by yourself with Rika. Your body is exhausted and needs rest. If you go and fight, you'll only end up in the way, or worst, dead.

"Plus, you're not allowed to leave Hypnos II grounds."

Renamon glared at Guardromon. He was right; not only was she not allowed to leave, Renamon could feel her body screaming for sleep, just from her simple exertion. But she couldn't believe it; she always fought with the other Main Digimon! She glanced over Guardromon's shoulder at Guilmon, silent pleading that Guilmon would tell Guardromon to let her fight.

Guilmon caught her eye then looked away.

Renamon sighed, backing away from Guardromon and sitting, her back against the wall. "I see your point. My anger was clouding my judgment."

Guardromon shrugged. "Not a problem, though we're going to have to keep a watch on you. For your own safety. I hope you understand." He said the last part with a hint of pleading in his voice.

Renamon mentally sighed. They really were worried about her. She voiced her agreement; "Fine."

Guardromon turned to Zurui. "Would you please escort Renamon to the briefing room and keep an eye on her?"

Zurui looked nervous at the idea of having to escort one of Main Digimon. He visibly gulped and said, "Sure."

Guilmon sent a sad look at Renamon before turning to Guardromon. "Alright that's settled. Lead the way Guardromon!"

Without a word, Guardromon turned to the doorway and ran through, with Guilmon running right behind them. Renamon watched them go, her expression sour. She hated having to stay behind while her friends risked their lives. But Guardromon was right; she would just get in the way.

Renamon sighed and stood up, stretching her back. "Well, shall we go then?" She spoke without looking at Zurui.

Zurui looked startled then suddenly remembered his task. "Yes ma'am," He said, running in front of Renamon and escorting her to the briefing room, leaving all thought behind in the card room.

* * *

"-And Guardromon and Guilmon are probably on their way to meet up with us now."

Takato frowned, as the black van bumped over another speed bump, its sirens on full blaze, driving at normally illegal speeds. His body jostled against the seatbelt at the pure vibrations from the engine. He focused his eyes on Kazu. "But how will they know where to meet us? They can't possibly know where our location is."

"Actually, they will." Kazu said, pulling out his D-Arc. "Guardromon's a robot Digimon. He can trace the signal coming from my D-Arc and track us accordingly. All Guilmon has to do is follow Guardromon. Then Kenta, MarineAngemon, and I can fly on the back of Guardromon and you can ride on the back of Growlmon."

Takato's frown deepened. So they and their Digimon would eventually intersect, cutting the time before they met the mega. Then they could travel by their Digimon, which would be faster since they wouldn't need to go by the streets. A forty minute trip would be greatly reduced.

"But it'll still be around ten or fifteen minutes before we can reach the mega," Takato said worriedly. "That's plenty of time for the mega to trash up the city."

Kazu shrugged. "I don't have any better ideas. If you got some, I would be glad to hear it."

MarineAngemon, now awake and out of Kenta's pocket, flew to the middle of the van. "PuPu!"

Kenta pushed up his glasses, his face sweaty. "Yeah, I agree MarineAngemon." Noticing the confused looks on Takato and Kazu, he translated; "MarineAngemon says that Hypnos II will probably use the new rookie Tamers to slow down the mega until we show up."

Kazu grabbed his hat and twisted it. "They can't!" He shouted. "The rookies will get slaughtered by a mega of this power long before we show up!"

Kenta shook his head sadly. "Its like you said; they don't have any better ideas. Unless someone else can take the mega on, then that's the only thing Hypnos II can do, short of sending the military, which is a worst idea; most likely they'll get slaughtered AND damage the surrounding area. At least the rookie Tamers might be able to scratch the mega."

"If only there was something else!" Kazu said, taking out his frustration on his hat.

"There is," Takato said. Both Kazu and Kenta looked up, surprised. "There's Rika."

"No! Renamon's way too tired! Rika won't fight!" Kazu roared.

"Plus, she's not allowed to fight Digimon," Kenta said, pushing up his glasses for the umpth time. His face was really sweaty.

Takato said nothing. It was true Rika wasn't allowed to fight; heck she couldn't even do anything against a mega at the moment. Surely Rika knew that; she was a master Tamer after all, only loosing in the Digimon card game to Ryo.

Yet Takato couldn't help but feel that Rika wasn't going to listen to common sense. He had a feeling he and the others would show up and see Rika going toe-to-toe with the mega. He knew she could delay the mega. But he hoped she didn't. He truly did. Rika had more to lose than her Tamer rights if she fought the mega.

She could lose her life.

_Please Rika,_ Takato mentally prayed. _Don't fight!_

* * *

_Splash._

Rika rinsed her mouth once more, trying to rid the last remnants of the barf. She wiped her face with a towel then leaned over the sink and starred into the mirror that hung over it. Her pale face was reflected in the glass, the blood still having not returned due to the sudden bout of hypothermia.

_What happened? How could it suddenly became so cold that I started freezing to death? And then it suddenly became warm? _

Rika had no answers to her thoughts. All she could do was try and resist the shaking of her body. She wasn't shaking from the cold; that had already past. She shook from weakness.

_Why do I feel so tired?_

DOOPDOOPDOOPDOOPDOOPDOOP!

Rika was snapped out of her thoughts by the frantic beeping of her D-Arc in her room. Rika had never heard her D-Arc ring like this, but she knew what it was; all the Tamers were to memorize the different signal alarms. She knew what this alarm was, but she simply couldn't believe it.

Full scale alert.

_Impossible. They would never do a full-scale alert unless..._

The alarm continued ringing, refusing to shut off until Rika responded to it. She quickly hung up the towel and ran from the bathroom back to her room, throwing the sliding door open with a loud bang. She grabbed her ringing, vibrating D-Arc and turned off the alarm by accessing the system alert information.

**Connecting...**

**D-Arc connection recognized. User: Rika Nonaka.**

**Situation: Wild One Bioemergence**

**Digimon: Gaiomon**

**Type: Dragon Man Digimon**

**Attribute: Virus**

**Special Attack: Unknown**

**Biological Characteristics: Unknown**

**Power: Mega Level**

**Threat level: High**

**Recommended Number of Tamers: N/A**

**Recommended Course of Action: Contact the Main Tamers.**

Contact the main Tamers...Rika couldn't believe this was happening. She knew a mega or some Digimon more powerful than a rookie was bound to show up; she had been eagerly awaiting the chance to fight such a powerful being. But there was no eagerness in her system now; the mega couldn't have emerged in a worst possible time. There were no Main Tamers in the city at the moment. Takato, Kenta and Kazu were out of the city, taking an international exam that Rika had already taken last week. Henry was in Hawaii and Ryo was in China visiting relatives. Jeri no longer even had a Digimon.

There was only her.

_No! Don't even think about it Rika!_ Rika mentally shouted at herself. She was banned from taking part in any Digimon fight and she was not even allowed to meet up with Renamon, who had to stay in Hypnos II grounds. And as much as she hated to admit it, Rika knew she could not beat a mega at the moment; Renamon was simply too tired from all her previous fights.

Rika knees gave out for the second time again, and she sat upon her mat, still starring at the D-Arc information. She herself was too weak and tired, having used her **_Teimāzu _**many times in the last two weeks to modify Renamon. Rika had even shared her **_Teimāzu _**with Renamon so she could digivolve! She was dead tired and exhausted, and might even possibly be sick, if the hypothermia was any indication of that.

But she had to do something! Hypnos II only had rookies left at their disposal! The new Tamers had no true combat experience, poor control of their own **_Teimāzu_**, and Digimon partners who could not digivolve past their rookie stage. Even if they sent every single person who had a Digimon partner, Rika doubted they would last one minute; and that was only if the mega was the type who played around with their weaker enemies.

Rika could not sit back and let that happen. She grabbed her D-Arc and placed her cards and shakily walked up to her door.

_"Do not leave this home to fight Digimon."_

The image of her grandmother's pleading eyes floated into Rika's head, as she suddenly remembered the promise she had made to her grandmother. Had Seiko realized what was about to happen? Did she have some sort of motherly instinct, that told her that something this terrible was hiding behind the veil of time, ready to enter and destroy? Rika didn't know, but she remembered that her grandmother had been almost pleading with Rika to make that promise.

And Rika had.

Rika felt weak again. She grabbed the door handle to support herself, but made no move to open it. Perhaps as Rika know saw the rookie's future, Seiko had seen Rika's own future, and saw only pain and torment should she fight this mega. Perhaps her grandmother saw that Rika could not fight this mega.

_Because you are weak..._

Rika's eyes snapped open. She suddenly realized what had happened. Her grandmother had forbid her from leaving this home because she saw Rika as weak. Rika, the one who had her Tamer rights suspended for two week. Rika, the one who could not defeat two weeks worth of rookie wild ones without feeling extremely exhausted. Rika, the one who had caused the Elektra Incident.

_"**But this isn't school or a game, little Rika. This is real life. You are not special. You are simple a little girl who has given a destructive power. And people get hurt in real life. People die in real life. Like in the Elektra Incident."** _

Rika's hand's formed into fist as she remembered the G-Woman's words. Rika had been so afraid when the G-Woman had spoken like that to her. Now she felt only rage and anger. The G-Woman thought she was weak as well; a simple little girl who had been given a destructive power. Rika slammed her fist into the wall. She wasn't a little girl!

_But you are a little girl...that's why dad left._

Rika's hand dropped. She had forgotten about that. But it didn't matter. She wasn't weak!

_You are weak...If you weren't weak you wouldn't be afraid to kill this mega..._

_I'm not weak!_

_Then prove it. Prove it. Prove it. Prove it! PROVE IT! PROVEITPROVEITPROVEITPROVEIT!_

Rika couldn't stand it anymore. With a cry of rage, she threw the door open with a loud bang and ran out of her house towards the mega. She opened her mouth and screamed.

"RENAMON!"

* * *

The sound of a musical ghost flue fell upon Zurui's ears. He had only a second to blink as Renamon suddenly disappeared from his eyes, teleporting away.

"Oh crap..." Was all he could say.


	5. Calling Down the Thunder

Foreword: If you're unsure of a Digimon's appearance, you can check en(dot)wikipedia(dot)org or www(dot)thedigiport(dot)com(backslash)dex-masterlist.php and look up the Digimon in question to see a picture. 

Chapter 5: Calling down the thunder...

"You called down the thunder. Now reap the whirlwind." -Starcraft Ghost.

The tin can clanged along the ground as it was pushed by the breeze, unable to stand against the strength of this element. The display of futility against the power of the wind would normally have entertained it.

But not today. The tin can was already ripped in half, making it more like a tin paper which retained some of its roundness. Ripped apart like the rest of the area around it.

The mega paused for a moment as a breeze filtered through his mask holes onto his face, raising his head and closing his eyes. It was so peaceful here. So different from the world he knew. In his world, there were no light breezes. There was either nary a flow or a typhoon. Nothing in between.

He lowered his head and looked around.

He had came. And in less than five minutes, every home, shelter, or building had been destroyed within a one hundred meter radius (A/N: relatively one hundred and nine yards) had been reduced to pitiful pieces of rubble. And it had not been a blast; the slash and impact showed the truth. He had ripped the entire place apart with only his body. The remains laid upon the ground now.

Along with their inhabitants.

If one were still alive to see the area around this wreckage, they would have been shocked to see that a perfect circle had been created. On one side, it looked like nothing had occurred. On the other, it seemed as if Armageddon had come. He had done this intentionally; he hated mindless destruction. He had been ordered to destroy a small area; nothing more.

He ceased wiping his hands and withdrew a long sword with a loud _shink, _slamming the point down. He bent down on one knee and lowered his head and uttered a prayer; respect to the innocent he had to shed. He hated killing defenseless innocence's as well; but his Lord had been very clear. This was not about simply completing an objective. This was about opening up eyes. This was about galvanizing the enemy. This was about sending a message.

And the message had been sent. Even though he had his head bent down, he knew she had come. The master with her Digimon. A great and mighty warrior he would love to square off in an honorable duel. But, unfortunately, he had a task to do.

He knew what he had to do.

He allowed himself a small prayer to the innocent he had killed. They had been caught unaware, use to this peace that this world enjoyed. Peace that his world had never known. He should not feel sorry for killing these innocents. By killing these innocents, he was bringing his own world one step closer to the same peace that inhabited this world. Peace to the war-ravaged plane that he had came from.

Wasn't that worth killing for?

Wasn't that worth _dying_ for?

He didn't know what the souls he killed would have said. But he knew what his answer was.

* * *

Rika had arrived at the scene of devastation with Renamon at tow. She didn't need to use her D-Arc to find the location of the Wild Mega Digimon. The one hundred-meter-perfect-circle-of-destruction was easy enough to find.

She knew the power of a mega. Yet she still gasped at the sight of the area.

Never before had Rika seen such precise destruction. Before, this area wasn't exactly like a part of Tokyo, but it was similar. Towering buildings of at least three stories had risen above the landscape here. Short, squat houses had been scrunched together, giving it the effect of a long row of townhouses. And all of it was gone.

Yet it wasn't like the destruction of some of the Elektra Incident, where the landscape was completely unrecognizable. It was like when one removes a table cloth with dishes on it at high speeds; the dishes remain on the table. The buildings still retained the majority of their structure, some of the towers sitting on the ground, simply missing a couple of floors and making them shorter. The houses were more damaged, yet the debris had fallen in a way that one could actually haphazardly repair the buildings by putting them together like a jigsaw puzzle. It was elegant destruction...almost like art.

And in the middle of this circle sat the seven-foot tall Mega-level Wild Digimon.

The Hypnos II report had told her the name of the mega, Gaiomon, and that it was a mega-level Digimon with virus attribute. It, however, gave no description or picture of its appearance. And despite the many things Rika had seen in her life, even though the mega was sitting down, she still couldn't help but widen her eyes at the sight of a Digimon warrior with a height of over two meters.

He was garbed in completely black Samurai armor. His head was bent over the hilt of the sword as he leaned onto his sword, giving the image that he was looking down the blade of his weapon. A short black cloak was wrapped around his bent right knee, stopping a little over his right ankle. His right foot could clearly be seen, a sharp claw extended from each of his three toes. Though he wore red armored gloves, Rika was sure that his hands were equally sharp and powerful. His white hair stuck out and lay between his two sharp spikes that extended from his shoulder pads. A sharp metal horn extended from his helmet, which had only three holes; two for his glowing yellow eyes to peer out of, and a third for his mouth.

"What's he doing?" whispered Rika to Renamon, despite the fact that they were too far away to be heard by Gaiomon.

Renamon didn't reply. In fact, she wasn't looking at Rika, or even the mega. She was starring at the ground, her eyes narrow. Rika followed her gaze and froze. She hadn't noticed before, but then again the debris covered it. But she could clearly see it now.

The whole ground was inundated with blood. The whole god damn circle contained a thin pool of thick, blood, like a layer of skin.

And as Rika continued starring at the layer of blood, a small chunk of human drifted from under a brick into her view. It left nothing to the imagination, nor any guesswork as to where the blood had come from.

Rika looked up at the mega. She suddenly realized that Gaiomon's armored gloves weren't red.

They were covered in blood.

"You...you killed everyone?" Rika whispered to the mega.

Somehow Gaiomon heard the quiet voice. With a quick movement, he pulled out the sword out of the ground. A testimony to his strength was that it was a curved blade, a katana; he had ripped the sword straight from the ground.

It was time. He nodded his head, and replied; his gruff, deep voice echoed across the area.

"Yes."

There was a brief pause, in which Rika could only shake. But not from shock. Not from anger. Not from fear.

From hate.

"You bastard..." She managed to spit out, her teeth clenched in rage as her whole body shook. She slammed her fist into the palm of her hand. "YOU'RE GOING TO PAY!"

She pulled out her D-Arc and pointed it at Renamon, screaming, "BIO-MERGE ACTIVATE!"

* * *

Gaiomon winced slightly, raising a hand to block his eyes from the bright blue flash that came from the master's digital device. A sphere of blue erupted from the girl and enveloped her Digimon. The two disappeared out of sight as the sphere pulled them into its opaque depths.

_Bio-Merge. The highest level relation Tamer and Digimon can achieved, when they combine their strength together to become one powerful creature._

Gaiomon recalled the definition of Bio-mergence with great ease; he had been meticulous in his studies. One of the greatest weapons one can employ against the enemy is knowledge. Oh, how much Gaiomon itched to fight, one on one, against a fully powered biomerge. To test his strength against the strength of an enemy in honorable combat; THAT was truly beautiful. Not the mindless destruction employed by other Digimon.

Unfortunately, Gaiomon knew that fight would not be this day. Even if he were to defy his Lord's orders (which he would not; there were more lives at stake than his own, and he was completely loyal to his Lord's divine wishes), he knew he could not get the fight that he desired. For his Lord's plans did not extend only to him, but to many others. Including this girl and her partner.

He sheathed his katana. He wasn't going to need it.

* * *

Every time Rika biomerged with Renamon to become the mega-level Sakuyamon, she always felt as if she were reborn. No matter how many times Rika did it, the warmth that seemed to condense and fall in a warm, cloak around her opened her eyes with joy. The strength and power that ran through her body seem to electrify her and give her a rush that was unmatched by anything else. And being able not only to hear the thoughts of Sakuyamon, but to _share_ them with Renamon? It was a true union.

But not today.

Rika opened her eyes and felt only cold and weak. A fatigue that she had never felt before, spread through her body and paralyzed her. She couldn't move or operate at all.

"Renamon?" She said shakily, the hate in her voice replaced by confusion.

"I'm sorry Rika..." Whispered Renamon back. Rika was alarmed to hear Renamon's voice, normally strong and confident, so tired and weak.

And then all Rika felt was pain as Gaiomon crossed the radius of the perfect circle in a blink of an eye and slammed his fist into Sakuyamon's face.

* * *

Bills. Taxes. Dumb Boss. Angry wife. Lunch.

Those were the mundane thoughts of Bob, a normal, mundane citizen, as he drove along in his mini-hybrid car back home to his lovely, angry wife for his daily lunch break. Between an annoying boss who couldn't see a good deal even if it was slapping him in the face and a wife who never stop complaining about his actions, Bob was angry.

And as he continued thinking small, angry thoughts at the world, a large red dinosaur fell from the sky and slammed into the ground right in front of him.

"AHHHHHH!" Bob screamed at the top of his lungs, slamming the brakes and swerving to the right. His bumper missed the red dinosaur by only a couple of inches and almost smashed into the oncoming traffic as Bob continued swerving and turning. The screeching of tires was only overshadowed by Bob's screaming. He continued screaming even as his car rolled to a stop on the side of the road, amazingly completely untouched.

Nothing like a big dinosaur dropping in front of your car to remind you of your own mortality.

Guilmon ignored the swerving cars as he jumped again, keeping his eyes focused up in the air; Guardromon was flying above the traffic, tracing Kazu with his radar.

"Guilmon! Watch the traffic!" Guardromon shouted down to Guilmon, his voice amplified to cross the distance.

Guilmon growled and jumped again. The apex of his height almost reached the same level of which Guardromon was flying at. Guardromon looked over as Guilmon glared at him. "Easy for you to say! You're flying over it!" He shouted.

Guardromon chuckled as gravity took hold of Guilmon and pulled him to the earth with another loud crash, accompanied with the screeching of tire wheels. Normally, when the Digimon had to travel to another location without aid of transportation, Guilmon would digivolve into Growlmon. Growlmon's large size allowed him to cover large amounts of terrain in a single stride and avoid running through crowded areas.

Unfortunately, without Takato nearby, Guilmon, or, in fact, any Digimon partner without their Tamer could not digivolve. Therefore, Guilmon was forced to utilize…other means of transportation.

Guilmon came into the air again. "How long before we reached Takato and the others?" He rasped out; his throat was constricted from the repeated drastic altitude changes.

"We're almost there!" Guardromon shouted back. He pointed with a clunky finger. "The black van right there!"

Guilmon looked left and right, as he started to fall. "Which one!?"

"The only black van in the area Guilmon!"

Guilmon continued turning his head left and right. "I don't see any black van!" He shouted back, his voice confused. The ground seemed to hurl up into the air as Guilmon began to fall faster.

"BELOW YOU GUILMON!!"

Crash

There was a reason why Hypnos II used a fully trained government agent to chafer the Tamers; Tamers they may be, they were still children, and therefore needed protection. Granted, they weren't anticipating a large, red dinosaur smashing through the roof of the car, and nearly crushing the passengers; in fact, there wasn't a single person who would be expecting that. Except maybe Noel Collins (A/N: Brownie points for whoever gets that allusion).

But in the unlikely event that it did occur, it was necessary for a talented driver that could keep calm and collected to keep them safe and sound.

Agent Royce did just that, though the Main Tamers would later note that while he kept them "safe", he certainly failed at keeping them "sound". Unlike Bob, who was driving in the second lane closest to the grass at the edge of the road, Agent Royce was driving along the lane closest to the middle of the road. A single concrete barrier separated the four lanes on each side, where cars raced back and fro at insane speeds.

And when Guilmon smashed through the roof of the car, Agent Royce, in surprise, had banked a sharp right- right through the concrete barrier, which obviously hadn't been reinforced in years, as the Hypnos II car went into oncoming traffic. Traffic filled with cars going over seventy miles or eighty kilometers per hour.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Screamed the passengers of the Hypnos II van as they were given a perfect, front-seat view of the oncoming vehicles.

Ignoring the screams of the Main Tamers and Guilmon, closing his ears to the screeching brakes as cars tried to stop themselves from smashing into the van, Agent pulled a sharp three-sixty, narrowly pulling through two cars and drifting perfectly into parallel position on the side of the road.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Guilmon continued screaming before suddenly realizing that everyone else had stop screaming and the car had come to a complete stop. He uncovered his eyes and looked at the shaken faces of his friends.

"Uh…Sorry?" Guilmon sheepishly said, weltering under the gazes of the inhabitants of the vehicle.

From the air, Guardromon shook his head. That was Guilmon; always causing some kind of damage or trouble wherever he went. Hypnos II was going to have a fit over the bill that Guilmon was racking up.

Agent Royce let a deep breath and turned around in his seat as Guardromon set down next the car, in a far gentler manner than Guilmon. "Is everyone alright?" He asked, the crazy ride rendering him unable to hide the concern in his voice.

The door slide open as Kenta stumbled out of the van into the meadow, where he fell to his knees and barfed all over the ground. Kazu, fairing a little better but green in the face, shakily got out of the van, supported by Guardromon. "I don't think I'll be ever okay again…" Replied Kazu, as he grabbed his hat from the chair and put it on his head with a shaking hand.

Takato grabbed hold of Guilmon's claw and both of them jumped out of the van. "We're fine. Thanks for the ride Agent; we gotta get going."

Agent Royce nodded. "Good luck and God speed," He said, his voice returning to the typical, emotionless G-Man voice.

"Thanks," replied Takato shortly. He turned to Guilmon and pulled out his D-Arc. "DIGIMODIFY! DIGIVOLUTION ACTIVATE!"

**Digivolution.**

"Guilmon digivolve to...Growlmon!"

They were on the move again.

* * *

"TALISMON SPHERE!"

A ring of golden energy formed around the wild Gaiomon. He paused and looked around at the ring, then back at Sakuyamon. Blood was flowing from the corner of her mouth from where he had punched her, and her armor had dents from where it had taken powerful blows. However, after waving her staff, this ring of energy had appeared around him; clearly despite her exhaustion, she could still fight.

A smile formed on Sakuyamon's lips. _Got him._

"DIE!" She screamed, waving her staff.

The noose glowed then instantly tightened, slamming Gaiomon's arms against his body. A loud cracking sound could be heard as the noose tightened more and more, slowly crushing the life out of this monster...

Sakuyamon paused. Something was wrong. She looked closely and realized, for someone who was having his life crushed out of him, Gaiomon was acting quite calmly...

**BANG**

Sakuyamon threw her hands up as the noose exploded into tiny pieces. The cracking sound hadn't been Gaiomon's bones breaking...it had been the noose cracking as Gaiomon broke it.

She grimaced. This guy was powerful.

Gaiomon didn't give her long to grimace as he exploded forward throwing a kick. She quickly blocked the kick with the bottom of her staff and tried to smash the Digimon's head in with the top. Gaiomon quickly threw up his right arm and blocked it, his face grimacing with pain at the blow.

"SPIRIT KICK!"

Calling upon the spirits that fueled her energy, Sakuyamon infused her right foot with blue energy. She threw it, connecting her spirit-powered foot against the exposed armored plate of the samurai.

_BANG_

Gaiomon flew back several feet, making two long, small trenches where his feet dragged against the ground. Sakuyamon laughed; "How did that feel, monster!?" She taunted.

Gaiomon face remained neutral. "You are an interesting opponent. However, I am not a monster."

Sakuyamon was taken momentarily back at the audacity of the statement. "W-w-what!?" She sputtered. "How can you say that?! You killed all those innocent people!!!"

Gaiomon shook his head. "Yes, I did kill those people in cold blood. But it was a necessary action. Such is war."

"War?" Confusion filtered across her face. "What do you mean by-?"

And before she could finish he was suddenly in Sakuyamon's face. With a shriek of surprise, she swung her staff at his face...or where his face was. As the staff flew, Gaiomon ducked under the attack and slammed his fist into Sakuyamon's stomach.

"Argh!!" She screamed, throwing up blood as the blow cracked the thin armor around her abdominal area. She crouched over in pain, momentarily stun. Gaiomon immediately grabbed her left arm and pulled it out straight.

_CRACK_

Sakuyamon screamed in pain as blood burst out of her arm. Gaiomon had swung his fist down at her joint and broke her left arm. Another loud _crack_ quickly followed the scream as Gaiomon's foot slammed into her already-hurt-stomach; since he was still holding her broken left arm as he kicked her, her left shoulder was dislocated. Sakuyamon nearly choked as a large amount of blood rose into her throat.

Then Gaiomon let go over her and drew up back his right leg, focusing his energy for another...

**BOOM**

Sakuyamon flew backwards several feet. Somewhere, in-between the pain her mind was feeling, she managed to do a haphazard backflip and shakily land on her feet. She stumbled slightly and grabbed her left arm, where blood flowed freely from the joint; it had been snapped one-hundred-eighty degrees. Less than five minutes into the fight and he had already broken her arm...

"Please..."

Sakuyamon looked up at Gaiomon, an expression of pity on his face as he spoke. "You are a mighty warrior Sakuyamon," He said. "But you are not at your full strength. Surrender now and you will live to fight another day."

_He's right Rika..._ Renamon mentally said. Although she and Rika had merged into one being and one conscious, they could think and speak separately within the mind._ We're not at our full strength..._

Rika sat or her knees, panting in exhaustion; or at least her mental image did as she sat in the mind of Sakuyamon. The pain was terrible, and they had been only fighting for a couple of minutes. There was no way they could win. She needed to give up while she had the chance...

_Ploink_

Even though he was standing several feet away, the drop of liquid hitting the ground was completely audible to Rika's ears. She looked up at the source.

A drop of blood had fallen from Gaiomon's hands. Blood that was still fresh. Blood of innocent, defenseless civilians.

Renamon felt the rage of Rika explode, felt the anger fueling her own. She felt energy flow through her body, as Rika and her thoughts began to coincide.

_We failed once before, and many innocence's died due to our inabilities..._

_We were punished and discarded because of our obvious shortcomings..._

_I WILL PROVE MYSELF!_

"RAHHHHHHH!" Sakuyamon screamed, calling upon the energy of the spirits. Gaiomon stepped back as a blue aura briefly surrounded Sakuyamon then faded away. Sakuyamon shakily rose to her feet.

"Live to fight another day..." Her voice was shaky from pain-no. Gaiomon suddenly realized it was from her anger. "Like those civilians you killed?"

_Ploink_

"WHERE WAS THE PITY FOR THEM?!!" Sakuyamon screamed, as she picked up her staff with her right arm and charged at Gaiomon. She crossed the distance in an instance, swinging her staff at the head of the damned Digimon samurai.

**BANG**

"Right here."

His right hand wrapped around Sakuyamon's right hand and holding it in place, Gaiomon swung his foot up.

_Crack_

The scream of pain that followed would have caused anyone observing the fight to wince. Gaiomon slammed his leg into Sakuyamon's chest, sending her flying back again. This time, however, there was no back-flip; she rolled and tumbled against the ground uncontrollable. Sakuyamon screamed even louder as she repeatedly rolled over her now broken arms.

And then all air to scream was driven out of her lungs as Gaiomon jumped into the air and slammed his feet first into her chest. She couldn't even cough; the blood simply rose and filled her mouth, slowly choking her.

Gaiomon sighed, panning his gaze upward to the beautiful sky of this world. Such a disappointment; this fight could have been worthy of his time if she had been at her full strength. He could only imagine how powerful a fully rested Tamer and fully powered Digimon could be once merged.

Or perhaps he could...He bent down and starred directly into Sakuyamon's face. "This is your last chance to surrender; if you do not, I will kill you."

Gaiomon didn't know whether it was on purpose or if it was the female's body was simply trying to unclog its throat. Whatever it was, the symbolism was clear, as Sakuyamon spat blood into his face. He sighed again as he wiped the wet blood off with the back of his already stained gloves; it was a waste for her to die, but then again, she wouldn't be a powerful warrior if she wasn't tenacious.

He looked up at the sky of the world, so pure and unadulterated. Not like his world at all, where the turbulent storms or harsh droughts reflected the very nature of his home. Peace...it was a beautiful thing. More beautiful than his sword, his armor or even a good fight. It was more beautiful than anything else.

_Isn't that worth killing for?_

_Shink_

Sakuyamon's eyes followed the movement of Gaiomon's arm as he pulled out his sword. Might as well give her an honorable death by samurai sword. She had fought well, even though she was vastly outmatched; it was the least he could do. "You fought like a true warrior," He commented, raising his sword high up and turning the point downwards. "But a true warrior knows when to fight and when to retreat. You clearly do not.

"Goodbye."

Sakuyamon closed her eyes. This was the end. She had failed. Again. Failed like she failed everyone else...

"NIGHT OF FIRE!"

**BOOM**

Sakuyamon's eyes flashed open as for a brief second both she and Gaiomon were surrounded by a wall of flames. Then a blue blur shot through the flames and grabbed her, pulling her away as Gaiomon roared in surprise. She tried to see who was holding her but couldn't tell as she coughed out more blood. But she thought she saw a familiar flash of red and purple...

"Imp...Impmon?" She weakly coughed out.

Then they stopped and a young pale girl's face hovered into view over Sakuyamon's face. She held a wet cloth to Sakuyamon's forehead and wiped the blood off her face with another cloth.

"Hang on Sakuyamon," Jeri Katou soothed. "Help is here."

* * *

Loud crashes echoed across the land as Growlmon jogged, transversing large amounts of distances in huge strides. Takato and the others barely hung on; Growlmon was traveling a lot faster than he normally would with passengers on board.

But not fast enough. Takato shifted over a little and yelled to Guardromon, who was flying in the air and leading the way with his radar; "How much longer Guardromon?!"

Guardromon didn't turn around. "About five more minutes!" He shouted back over Growlmon's loud footsteps.

Takato shifted back into a more secure position. _Five more minutes...Hang in there rookies!_

* * *

For three seconds Gaiomon burned.

Then he hurled himself out of the flames that had suddenly engulfed him, spitting out tar and ash; the attack had taken him completely unawares and he had been unable to cover his mouth. Ugly dark scorch marks were all over his armor and it glowed from the heat absorbed. However, that was the extent of the damage; besides that and the discomfort caused by inhaling a lung full of ash, Gaiomon was untouched.

Well, close to untouched; Gaiomon rolled along the ground and jumped straight to his feet, glaring at the burning flame circle that had surrounded him. Too weak to even cause him discomfort, the sheer unbelievable act of surprising Gaiomon and restraining him from slaying his opponent was a blow to his pride.

Unfortunately for Gaiomon, he didn't have much time to reflect upon his hurt pride as a small blue blur suddenly flew out of the flame. The blue blur was less than half the size of Gaiomon, yet the wind caused from its sheer speed caused the flames to instantly burn out; the very same flames that had obscured Gaiomon's vision and gave him no warning as a red glove hurled at Gaiomon...

_BANG_

But not fast enough for Gaiomon to block with one of his hands as he reared his other gloved fist and cast it at the blue blur…

And the fist hurled through empty space as the blur disappeared and reappeared behind Gaiomon, a clawed foot shooting out at the back of the mega's head...

Only for Gaiomon to allow the momentum of his missed punch to pull him to the ground as he fell, the blue kick sailing through the air, as Gaiomon brought his hands to the ground and straightened his legs as he prepared to push himself off the ground and slam his feet against his enemy...

But he was too slow as the blue blur suddenly threw himself to the ground, and with another loud bang, slammed his kick into the back of Gaiomon. The blur didn't let up, and even as Gaiomon painfully hit the ground, the blur jumped on the back plate of the mega digimon, jumping up and down and firing punches at insane speeds; the repeated small 'bangs' as the punches hit the plate sounded like the fire of a machine gun. It was a close analogy too, as small dents began appearing in the plate, the repeated blows straining the equipment. The small size of the blur gave the attacker a huge advantage; Gaiomon's hands could barely reach around his back, and because of the size of the attacker, it could easily dodged the clumsily grabs from Gaiomon and continue its punishment...

And the attacker screamed out in pain, as Gaiomon grabbed his katana and slashed the aggravator, its extended range causing the blue creature to be unable to dodge it completely. Gaiomon instantly slammed his fist into the ground, Newton's third law throwing him on to his feet as he turned towards the bleed blue creature, who was rolling away. Gaiomon tensed his feet as he prepared to cross the short distance between him and the enemy and slay him...

Only to find he couldn't. Gaiomon eye's went wide as he looked down and saw himself completely bound in thick, green vines. The vines were wrapped multiple times around his torso and legs, and grew only more thick as they spread up to his arms and chest, completely binding him from any movement. Gaiomon could only struggle in-futile as the vines continued to tightened their hold, thinking furiously; Impossible...How did I not notice these vines? How did I let them wrap around me so many times...?

"It's confusing, isn't it?"

Gaiomon's snapped his head towards the source of the voice. Out of the smoke, calmly walked out a young human girl. She was garbed in a yellow jacket and yellow skirt. The girl's brown hair was wrapped into two round buns that stuck from the top of her head, though long strands of hair still protruded from them and fell to her waist. She held a smile that humans considered sweet and innocent; but Gaiomon only saw the smile of a predator having caught her prey.

"Yes, it certainly is confusing," the girl continued. "Such was the complexity of the plan, that I was confused as well at first when Jeri-sensei explained it to us. Which, of course means that you had no chance of understanding it."

"And therefore it worked perfectly," Gaiomon turned his head to another voice, as a young human boy with short black hair approached from the haze of the flames. A pair of glasses shined as they reflected the light, drawing attention away from his blue polo shirt and brown khaki pants. Despite the distraction, Gaiomon noticed how his clothes were completely untouched, despite all the ash in the air from the fire...

"Yeah, my control of fire was so amazing, that you didn't even get a single bit of ash on you!" Exclaimed an excited, but humble voice. A Impmon jumped out of the smoke onto the human boy's shoulder, spitting out some flame as he landed.

Before the glasses boy could reply, another boy suddenly leaped out of the smoke. He was the youngest of all three humans, with a young and cherubic face. He wore a blue jacket with yellow stripes and blue sweat pants. His voice was cheerful and optimistic, even though his face was that of mock annoyance as he shouted, "No way Zurui! You, Akira, Kimiko, and Finrak were just distracters! It was Palmon who did the actual capturing!"

The boy turned his head and shouted to the smoke. "How are you holding up Palmon?!"

As if on cue, a draft of wind flowed through and blew some of the smoke away, revealing a Palmon, a small plant Digimon with a red flower adorning her head and claws that could stretch into long tentacles. Her cactus-arms were currently in the ground, tentacles stretching from her skin. With a jolt in his stomach, Gaiomon realized that the vines holding him and tightening around him were being created from the plant Digimon.

"I'm doing fine Jiro!" Palmon shouted back. Her eyes were narrowed in concentration, and the petals of the flower on her head stood straight up from focus. She continued; "But let's hurry up and end this!"

"Yeah!" Jiro said excitedly; then his face froze. He turned to the human girl; "Uh...What are we suppose to do next Kimiko?"

"Hold on a second," Kimiko replied, turning around. She walked over to the prone blue blur that had attacked Gaiomon; now that the enemy was still, Gaiomon could see that he was a Gaomon, a blue, dog-like creature, with red gloves and red bandana; or at least Gaiomon thought they were red. They could have simply been dyed red from the blood pouring out of the deep cut Gaiomon's katana had etched across the Digimon's stomach. The girl, instead of panicking at the sight like most humans, or screaming in rage like the master Tamer had done, calmly crouched down besides the creature. She placed a hand on one of the legs of the Digimon and applied a small amount of pressure. The muscle in the leg immediately contracted and the dog let out a scream of pain through his gritted teeth. Gaiomon realized the leg muscles had ripped.

Kimiko shook her head. "I see Finrak; this new ability of going 'wild', while giving you tremendous speed, is hazardous to your body. I will have to train that out of you."

The Digimon Gaomon only let out a groan of pain in response, and the girl sighed and pulled out a D-Arc. Gaiomon realized with a jolt that this girl was a Tamer as well, as she yelled, "Digi-modify! Medic Patch activate!"

The wound on Gaomon's stomach quickly sealed up, and his legs seemed to return back to normal as its body temporarily repaired itself. One of the many advantages available to Tamer Digimon. Gaomon groaned again, not in pain, but in exhaustion, as he pushed himself to sitting position and rasped out, "Thank you, madam."

The 'madam' ignored him and stood up, facing the boy known as Jiro. "Well, now the mega is immobilize, that kid Dario and his rock partner are suppose to beat him up. Too bad the kid is so dumb that he doesn't even realize we've caught him already."

"I'm not dumb!"

The loud words came from a young boy with spiky brown hair. He wore a yellow T-Shirt, covered by a blue jacket slightly large than him. He wore blue and black khaki shorts, with white tennis shoes decorated with red strips on his feet. His face was long and his brown eyes shimmering as he addressed the girl.

"Yeah!" A Gotsumon, a humanoid Digimon composed completely of rock with two yellow orbs that served as eyes leaped from the smoke and landed with a crash at the side of the boy known as Dario. "Dario's not dumb! Leave him alone!"

"Don't speak to my mistress like that!" Finrak spat out, leaping to his feet.

Gotsumon cracked his knuckles viciously as he started walking towards the ragged dog digimon. "And what are you going to do about it!? You beat me before, but I can trash you now!" He shouted.

Whether Gotsumon could defeat Finrak was something to be found out later, as a burst of flame from Zurui caught the attention of all. The boy standing next to his Impmon cleared his throat. "You guys can finish this argument later. We're in the middle of a battle."

Kimiko sighed. "Some battle." She turned to Gaiomon and gestured to him. "You know, I thought our first real battle would be a bit more exciting. Oh well, victory is boring."

"Yeah!" Jiro shouted, drawing excitement from Kimiko's calm assertion. He jumped on top of a rock and stuck pointed his finger at Gaiomon, looking pompous. "You couldn't beat us, you big, bad mega! Ya know why? 'Cause we're the great rookies of our class! We got brains and brawn wrapped together in one team! And most of all-"

He stuck out his hands in the peace symbol and laughed victoriously. "CAUSE WE ARE TAMERS TWO! THE GREATEST TEAM EVER!"

* * *

"Digimodify! Medic Patch activate!"

Jeri's yellow and white D-Arc glowed for a split second before the digivice beeped and an error appeared on the monitor. Jeri swore as she put the card away; although she hadn't expected to work, it brought no pleasure for Jeri to be proven correct.

She looked away from her D-Arc and back down at Sakuyamon; she was in bad shape. The mega's armor was cracked and broken in many areas. Her face was bloody and bruises were already swelling from where Gaiomon had driven punishing punches into her face. Blood flowed freely from the arms; both Sakuyamon's arms were broken and Jeri suspected, due to the odd angle it was at, that her shoulder was dislocated as well.

Yet, despite the appearances, Jeri knew that she still had time. Digimon in their base form were digital data; their bodies were simply that data formed in the physical world. Sakuyamon was lucky; only blood poured from the wounds. The data that made up the creature was still relatively unhurt. As long as Sakuyamon did not lose too much data, she would survive and heal from any wound.

But Sakuyamon would eventually begin losing data; if her blood was allowed to flow freely, Sakuyamon would eventually run out of blood. Once that occurred, the body would begin losing data, a dangerous loss for Digimon. Jeri couldn't bind her arms though; she could easily increase the damage done to the broken limbs and cause some serious damage to the data inside them. A medic patch card would normally circumventilate this issue...except Renamon was not Jeri's digimon. And Jeri couldn't use Rika's D-Arc because the digivice disappeared whenever the Tamer biomerged- not like Jeri expected that to work either, since a Tamer's D-Arc worked only for its owner.

All in all, it was an unpleasant situation for Rika and Renamon. They would die unless Jeri could get help or could in someone help them. If only she had some kind of healing card that could be used on-

Jeri's eyes brown eyes dilated as a thought occurred to her; she COULD help them. Not with a healing card; healing cards, and all other Digi-modify cards, were really just card-board with text and pictures adorning it. No, it was something else that infused those cards with the power to change the very nature of their Digimon. What if Jeri didn't need a card? What if she could just use-?

"CAUSE WE ARE TAMERS TWO! THE GREATEST TEAM EVER!"

Jeri snapped her head up at the loud, callous voice; it was completely out of place to the sounds of battle she had grown accustomed to. She looked over to the source and saw her team of rookies that she had formed to create Tamers-2 and saw them all standing in the wide open, talking face to face with the mega.

What...the hell are they doing?

This was the only thought that the mind that lurked behind the brown eyes of Jeri Katou could process, as she tried to figure out what her pupils were doing. She had created a plan for them to follow, one that used distractions and cover to confuse the powerful mega. Through teamwork and craftiness, it was plausible for the four weaker rookies to defeat the much more powerful mega. This plan did not involve any of the Tamers revealing themselves. Could it be they were forced out of cover? No, they seemed calm and relaxed, and Gaiomon was covered in vines...

Then Jeri saw it. She saw it from over fifty meters away. She saw it as clear as night and day, even though it was slightly obscured by Gaiomon's mask, even though it was one of the smallest she had ever seen-but she saw it.

A smirk.

"SHIT!" Jeri swore, and pulled her hands from Sakuyamon, sprinting as fast as she could towards her students, trying in some way, any way, to save them from their own callous experience and stupidity...

* * *

The Tamers of Tamer-2 cheered after Jiro's proud boast; even Kimiko, who had just been glowering with annoyance, wore her odd smirk. Dario felt elated, the realization that on their first mission, the rookie Tamers had defeated a mega. The europhia that charged the group caused them to set aside all differences and celebrate as one.

And there was only one thing left to do. Finish the job.

"Let's make this a big one Gotsumon!" He shouted, and he pulled out his red and white D-Arc. With his other hand, he swiped out two cards from his card deck.

Two strength-modify cards.

"Are you ready for this Gotsumon!?"

"Ready Dario!" Gotsumon shouted, cracking his knuckles as he narrowed his yellow eyes in focus.

"Digimodify! Double strength modify cards activate!!"

Boom.

Gotsumon's arms literally blew up in size, as the rocks expanded and rippled like real muscles. Gotsumon's body grew only a small bit, leaving him with two massive arms that were in no ways proportional to his body. This of course meant that Gotsumon's already slow speed was made unbearably sluggish, rendering a double-strength modify card useless; what was the point of all that strength if you couldn't hit you opponent? It was a stupid move- unless your opponent was already bound.

"GOOD-BYE SUCKA!" Gotsumon shouted, his voice cracking as if he was on steroid, and with a loud battle cry, he rushed towards the bound Gaiomon. The ground shook and broke under the powerful feet of the rock Digimon as he charged, the might of two strength modify cards coursing through his body, a fist ready to smash in the face of Gaiomon and claim victory for the rookie Tamers of Tamers-02...

* * *

Ah rookies. Even though they were weak, with the correct planning and a little bit of luck, anyone could be taken down. Even a mega with such experience as Gaiomon.

He was surprised, alright. He had not seen this incident occurring. Of course, he hadn't even expected to need to fight rookie Digimon, much less be caught off guard by them; he had expected the rookies to flee and run at the sight of him. These rookies had either unknown bravery or uncanny skill to be able to face him with such confidence...

Or ignorance.

The only battle experience these children had were in duels and practice matches. Never before were they in a fight where one's existence was on the line. Combined with their lack of maturity, these children clearly had no idea the danger of a true fight. They never had to kill another Digimon to achieve victory. The matches always ended when the opponent Digimon was unable to fight- captured. As such, they saw Gaiomon was captured and revealed themselves to brag, thinking they had won the fight. Foolish, callous beings. They did not realize that they were in danger of losing their lives.

So much the better for Gaiomon; if they had instantly attacked him while he was bound, he would have been forced to use it. Not only would it humiliating to have to use such an advance technique against rookie-level Digimon, at that range, it would hurt him greatly...

The massive rock fist filled Gaiomon's vision. A direct hit from such power, even though it was only from a rookie, would cause some serious damage to him. At the very least it would render him unconscious or render him in a state incapable of fighting back...if it hit him.

And as Gotsumon's punch came closer and closer to Gaiomon's face, as if the whole world was suddenly made out of rock, Gaiomon made his move. Thanks to the ample amount of time the foolish rookies had given him chatting and bragging like it was a social meeting, Gaiomon had plenty of time to probe and test his restraints. Slowly, but surely, he had wormed his hand as far to the back he could. Concentrating, he had used his energy to move an item that was so part of him, it was as if it was an extra limb...

His katana.

The vines splint instantly, flying away from Gaiomon's body as he pulled out his katana, the motion cutting the roots. Gotsumon's eyes only had a little time to widen before Gaiomon fist flew up and slammed into the face of Gotsumon.

**_Crack_**

Gaiomon twirled around, slashing away the remaining vines and sheathing his katana in one movement. Gotsumon flew back, bits of rock falling off his face, as he slammed against the ground with a loud bang, and rolled feet over head back towards his human partners. Dario screamed shouted, "Gotsumon!" and ran towards his fallen partner as the rest of his team's joy quickly came to horror...

And then Gaiomon became the hurricane.

Jiro could only begin to shout, "What the hell?" before Gaiomon suddenly blazed forward, covering the distance between the young boy and the massive mega in the blink of a eye as Jiro could only widen his eyes as a black fist filled his eyes, much too fast for him to react much less dodge...

But not too fast for Gaomon, as with a loud scream of pain, he entered into his wild mode and slammed into Jiro, sending them tumbling painfully feet over head out of the way...

And the team began realizing that they had a fully freed mega-level Digimon in their presence, and the human Tamers began running as their Digimon partners prepared their attacks...

Prepared. That was all. Rookie though they may be, they had already proven their mettle as potentially powerful fighters. Gaiomon was not going to let them fight, as his opened his fist as he fell from his mis-attack, slamming the palm of his hand and sending him spinning in the air...

Towards Zurui, the Impmon, as he took a deep breath, preparing to send another Night of Fire attack at the spinning mega...

But he never got the chance as his head was slammed into the ground by the spinning feet of Gaiomon. There was a loud crack as the mega's right foot made contact, knocking Zurui out before he even hit the ground. Gaiomon continued with the momentum, his left foot landing on the ground softly. For a split second Gaiomon, stood on this one foot, perfectly balanced, as he swiveled around. Directly in front of him was Gotsumon, who had managed to recover from the blow Gaiomon had given. He stood on his feet, his hands at the air as he began shouting "CRAZY CRUSHER!"...

Gaiomon's right foot slammed the ground with a bang and sent rock and debris flying everywhere as he blazed forward, the ground beneath him breaking apart due to the sheer strength of his legs...

And a massive rock, almost four times as big as Gaiomon, spawned above Gotsumon, as he poured all his energy into it, ready to smash the incoming Gaiomon with it...

Futile.

Gaiomon's uppercut slammed into Gaiomon's stomach before Gotsumon even had the chance to throw the massive boulder. Gaiomon's fist burrowed into Gotsumon body, as if the rocky exterior was rubber. Gotsumon gasped, all the breath forced out of his body as Gaiomon's blow sent him straight up...

Right into the boulder Gotsumon had hovering above him.

**BOOM**

The rock literally split in half as Gotsumon slammed straight through his own creation, made airborne by Gaiomon's vicious blow, disappearing out of sight...

Tentacles suddenly snapped out of the last remaining vestiges of smoke, Palmon finally regaining enough sense and time to attack. Hoping the falling pieces of the broken rock would distract the mega, she launched a myriage of vines in an attempt to entrap the enemy...

An attempt. There was no surprise. The rocks were no distraction. Gaiomon needed no weapon as he turned and face the twisting vines and grabbed them. With a quick pull, Palmon suddenly found herself airborne, sailing gracefully through the air as Gaiomon held onto the vines...

Straight into the falling pieces of broken rock. For a brief moment Palmon tried to regrow her vines and form a shield...but it was useless as a single rock slammed into her head and knocked her out cold. She hit the ground with a loud and audible **_crunch_**.

"PALMON!" Jiro screamed, tears running down his eyes at the abuse of his partner; although Palmon had cut their connection so Jiro wouldn't feel her pain, he didn't need it to imagination what it would be like. He pushed himself to his feet and ran towards his fallen partner...

**Boom.**

Jiro was thrown backwards as Gaiomon suddenly slammed into his path. Jiro shook his head, trying to clear his eyes of tears and dirt as he looked up- into the face of a Digimon mega samurai who had taken apart his team in mere seconds. His body froze and all Jiro could do was lift his head and looking through the eye slots of the mega's helmet, into his glowing yellow eyes. There was no pity within their depths...

A blue blur suddenly flew in front of him; Finrak, the blue rookie Gaomon, stood between Jiro and Gaiomon. His breath was ragged and his legs were trembling. Blood poured out of various wounds; it look like he could barely stand. Despite this, Finrak glared at Gaiomon. "BACK off..." He growled, his voice a mixture of pain and anger.

Gaiomon took a step closer, as if he hadn't heard Finrak. Finrak held his ripped gloves up and growled even louder. "I said BACK off, or I'll-"

And then Gaiomon suddenly leaped, and confusion crossed Finrak's face as he followed the mega's leap upwards...

**KABOOOM!**

Gotsumon finally came back to the earth, his rock slamming into the ground almost five feet from where Gaiomon had previously been standing at indefinable speeds. Jiro screamed as the shockwave from the impact sent rocks and pebbles flying everywhere. Jiro was lucky; being this close to the impact, his frail human body would have been pulverized and broken instantly, killing him. Fortunately for him, he was lying on the ground, causing most of the debris to miss him, and shielded by Finrak.

Unfortunately for Finrak who was standing up and serving as a shield for Jiro, the shockwave smashed into him full-force, blowing him off his. A loud crack could be heard as multiple bones in his body were broken instantly. A small bit of fortune came to him; a pebble knocked Finrak out instantly, allowing him to only experience a second of pain before he slammed into the ground, his broken body rolling against the tough earth.

Gaiomon landed back onto the ground in a much lighter way then Gotsumon, his momentary airborne state leaving him untouched from the impact. Of course he could have taken the damage, but what was the point?

He approached the fallen Tamer, who had flipped on to his stomach, and was trying to crawl away. The impact had obviously caused the human's urge to survive to overcome his fear. If the human had not been a clearly inexperienced and immature child, Gaiomon would just picked up a rock and dishonorably smashed the frail head for the boy's cowardness. However, instead he took three long strides and stepped on the boy's pants.

Jiro froze and shakily turned over, looking up again into the face of the mega. His whole body trembled as he looked up into the face of death...

"Please..." His voice came out hoarse and pitiful even to his own ears. "Please..."

Gaiomon hated senseless violence and the slaughtering of innocence. Even though this human was a Tamer, and therefore a fighting enemy, he was also a child. His ill-preparation for the true consequences of the world classified him as a clear innocent. And Gaiomon hated killing him.

But if it would restore peace- no, not restore. To restore something denotated that one was returning to its original state. Gaiomon did not remember a time when there was peace in his world. He doubted there ever was. If by killing this boy, he was bringing his war-torn world to peace...

_Wasn't that worth killing for?_

"No."

Jiro whimpered as the mega took a step closer and bent down; Gaiomon would crush his skull. He would die, but a quick and painless death. A death for peace. Gaiomon extended his gloved hand towards the small head of the boy...

And then a white rope of energy wrapped around his extended hand.

Instantly, Gaiomon screamed in pain as the white lash burned, the rope's heat penetrating his skin as if his glove wasn't even there. Turning around, he faced the source of the rope and started; it was one of them. It was one of the Tamers that had forayed into the Digital World and left alive. It was-

"Get the hell away from him." growled Jeri Katou.

* * *

A long, long time ago, Jeri and the rest of the Main Tamers entered the Digital World to save their kidnapped friend, Calumon. Jeri remembered that faithful day they left the Real World, leaving letters of farewell to their parents and journal goodbye's to their teacher. Ah, they had been so innocent back then. So happy. So clueless.

Exactly like her students were, Jeri reflected; they were young and immature, not grasping the danger that they were in during a real-life battle. It was why they were not ready for true combat. It was why the rookie Tamers ran away at the sight of Gaiomon, instead of standing and helping their Digimon partners. Jeri couldn't blame them though; when Gaiomon had burst from his bonds, they had a reminder of their mortality. Death stared them in the eye. Any other person would have ran as well, and Jeri realized even now that if they had stayed, they would most likely have been killed.

And it looked like Jeri's prediction was about to come true, on one of her students, Jiro; except he hadn't chosen to stay. He had been unable to run away. The other rookie Digimon had tried their best defend him, but after all, they were only rookies. The obviously more experienced and much more powerful Gaiomon crushed them easily. And he clearly fully intended to do the same to Jiro.

But Jeri was not helpless. Even though her trip into the Digital World had hurt in ways she had never imagined, causing her grief and loss she had only experienced once in her lifetime before, changed her entire prospect on life and made her the host of the D-Reaper, it was not useless. The Main Tamers had met Ryo, who had been missing for almost a year. His Digimon partner, Cyberdramon, was trained enough to be able to rest in his ultimate mode as his base mode; unfortunately, this made him irrational and hard to control. Before Ryo had managed to tame him, he had to use a means of enforcement to get Cyberdramon to do what he wanted.

The Energy Whip.

Using the D-Arc to channel one's **_Teimāzu, _**a Tamer could create a white rope of energy capable of wrapping around a Digimon and act upon it various enforcement methods. Nobody knew the full extent that the Energy Whip could do; in fact, Jeri was the only other Tamer besides Ryo who had managed to create the Energy Whip, and that was through months of trail and error and practice to fine tone it. However, Jeri had so far been able to master one type of punishment that it could be used for; intense heat, burning anything it made contact with.

Gaiomon had always wondered what it would be like to fight a Digimon Tamer. Now he painfully understood.

"Sit down!" Jeri commanded, focusing her **_Teimāzu _**through the Energy Whip. Gaiomon howled as the whip briefly glowed and burned him again. He, however, remained standing, and pulled out his katana, ready to hack the burning rope that caused him such pain.

"I said, 'SIT DOWN!'" Jeri shouted, focusing more of her energy through. The whip glowed even brighter and longer and Gaiomon dropped his katana, as his screams became even louder. Jeri's eyes showed no mercy as Gaiomon continued to stand.

"I'm warning you..." The whip flared up before dying down. Gaiomon growled as he swayed, the pain making him dizzy. He no longer screamed; he had crossed that threshold of pain. He, however, continued to remain on his feet, and tried to speak, in a hoarse voice.

"I-" Gaiomon began, before cutting off as the whip buzzed again.

"Will-" The whip glowed again and Gaiomon clenched his teeth.

"Not-" Buzz.

"Sit-" BUZZ.

"DOWN!" Rage and pain mixed into Gaiomon's scream and Jeri could clearly smell the burned flesh caused by the Energy Whip. But burned flesh or not, Jeri trembled on her feet; this mega was powerful. His sheer strength and will was stopping even the Energy Whip: not good at all; Jeri had not mastered the Energy Whip yet and was already feeling tired as it drained her **_Teimāzu._**But she had to keep pushing, or else Gaiomon would break loose and slaughter them all. They needed help...

Where are you Takato?

* * *

Pain was not a foreign concept for Gaiomon. One did not elevate to the status and skill of mega-level without experiencing it- And Gaiomon had certainly felt his fair share.

But never before had he felt a pain like this. While the line was around him, it was like a burn that never went away, a constant pain. Every time the whip glowed, the pain became incredible; it was as if someone had frozen his arm, then instantly burned it with flame. And not only did it hurt his flesh body, but the very core of his essence; even now, Gaiomon could feel his data burning away every time energy flowed through the whip. He did not understand how he could bear it.

But he had to. He had to finish his mission. He had to complete the task given to him directly from the Lord- the task that he alone had been entrusted to finish. There were other Digimon that could have done this task; but it was he alone that the Lord trusted with such a paramount duty. Gaiomon would not fail him. Even if he had to give his life. Even if he had to kill this entire world.

Even if he had to use that.

"Gaia Reactor."

* * *

Jeri had seen many things in the Digital World. She had seen an entire horde of Digimon crush another Digimon with only their feet. She had seen the massive Sovereign's up close and the sheer awesome power they possessed. She had seen the D-Reaper infestation spread across the Digital World, slowly consuming everything in its path; even herself.

But (she would later suppose) all the knowledge she had gained only showed her that there was so much more yet to uncover.

"Gaia Reactor."

Gaiomon's right arm, the arm that her Energy Whip was wrapped around glowed. It glowed, briefly, and only for a split-second, a bright, crimson red. Brighter than the red blood that stained his gloves, it was a sharp contrast to the black armor that adorned his body. Jeri didn't even have enough time to wonder what the glowing was before it disappeared and-

BOOM.

Gaiomon's arm seemed to explode, as a massive explosion filled the area. Jeri, throwing her hands up to protect her face from the debris, was thrown off her feet with a scream as the shock wave picked her up and threw her several feet away. The Energy Whip immediately died away, as what little energy Jeri had left to power it was blown away along with her concentration. Gaiomon wasted no time as he quickly picked up his katana and leapt at Jeri's prone body, screaming a pained battle cry, as he raised the katana above his head, ready to stab the Main Tamer-

Pain or not, Gaiomon was still an experienced fighter. Paying attention to one's surroundings, even in the midst of battle, was of paramount importance to ensure one's survival.

Having said that, Gaiomon suddenly flipped around in mid-air, bring his sword up to his side to block the incoming-

Missiles.

Having to stop his momentum in mid-air, the explosion from the missiles sent Gaiomon flying away. While they did not hurt him, Gaiomon missed his victim by several feet, as he hit the ground awkwardly, and tumbled around before jumping onto his feet to see who had attacked him...

"Sorry we're late," Kazu Shioda said, as he sat on the shoulder of the hovering Guardromon. "We got caught in traffic."


End file.
